9 Lives to Live
by MadxHatterxTeapot
Summary: In the world of Topsy Turvy, turmoil and tyranny stir under the rule of the Heart of Darkness. In the midst, a small rebel group known as 'The Mad Tea Party' rises. Pairings are now switched up. It's up to you to figure out who loves who. Ch 13 Up.
1. Tea Parties are Fun

Authoress' note: Well hello there everybody

Authoress' note: Well hello there everybody. It's nice to meet you all. I'm Hatter-chan. That's just my nickname, not because of my love of Alice in Wonderland…okay. That's part of it too but otherwise, I just like to go by that nickname. You know some days I really do find myself truly as mad as a hatter. Teehee. Okay then, you've all obviously come here for one reason, to read my fanfiction! Yay! Ahem.

Any-who, I hope you all enjoy the enthralling and darkly enchanted tale I have to offer you. So if you have any questions, flames, reviews, be sure to submit them after reading. Thanks.

Disclaimer 1: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carrol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Carrol. The reference to Hatter Madigan from The Looking Glass Wars is just clearly for reference. I do not own the name. Thanks

However…I have my own character ownership too.

Disclaimer 2: This fanfiction I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, The Heart of Darkness, and of course the yet-to-be-named white heart' all belong to me.

Any rights I have violated, the admins of this site have the right to end my terms of service.

--

"I do recall that the momewraths are especially vicious today." The purple tabby tail swished back and forth lazily across the table as chardonnay colored eyes followed the ball of yarn that kept rolling around in front of them. The magenta colored body wiggled back and forth before he finally pounced for the ball of yarn only to have it disappear under a rather large top hat and he crashed face first into a teapot. Hot chai tea spilled over his ears and stained the violet stripes on his wool sweater. His face…priceless.

The top hat lifted up to reveal that the maroon colored ball of yarn had disappeared and in its place was just another plain old teacup. "Chevalier." Said the host of the tea party. The young woman's violet gaze lifted to stare at the neko-man with much scorn as she spun the yarn around on her fingertips and finally bounced it like a little rubber ball on the table top. "I want her found."

"Found, find, search, seek out, take out, and destroy; your usual demands Madame Hatter?" The man lifted his head up to reveal a charming face of a man slightly older than she was. With rather twitchy little magenta cat ears atop his head, he flattened his ears against his scalp and popped them back up to get the liquid tea from his hair off. He moved forward on the table on all fours in a sly and slinking fashion before finally hissing in pain from sticking his left elbow into a cup of scalding hot Black Tea. "GAH!"

"You're an important creature to our little card game Monsieur Cat...Don't screw this up." Said another voice: another woman. She was seated rather provocatively next to Madame Hatter with a silken tone of venom to her voice as she glowered at Chevalier. "Patience Mistress Hare. Chevalier will find the White Heart. All we need is our roster filled for the Tea Party and we can begin our revolt against the Heart of Darkness. The whore will never know what hit her."

"Maybe instead of your name being Harlequin Hatter, you should be called 'Hatter Madigan'." Chevalier gave his trademark grin with his little jagged feline teeth and flashed a wink at the Mad Hatter before Mistress Hare silenced him by backhanding the poor creature across the face. "Fool! You DARE raise your cowardly insults to our Leader? To the Maddest Creature in all of Teapot Towers?" She hissed. "You'll pay for that with your life-"

Madame Hatter yanked Mistress Hare by her little fluff of a white tail back into her seat with a snarl. "ENOUGH! I do appreciate your protective guard for me my good friend, but be civilized. Chevalier was being his cocky self. It is in his nature. Pussy cats like to play." Her steely violet gaze settled on the grinning cat man, his tail swishing back and forth.

"I wonder if your little plan will fall through Madame. I do show mild concern when I say…we should beware her royal-pain-in-the-ass."

Henrietta Hare's brow cocked and she raised a teapot up casually and poured herself and Harlequin Hatter a cup of tea. "Beware? What's there to beware of? Her army of Cardigans? The Clovi? The Spazes of Ruin? Or…the Jackals?" The voluptuous bunny woman cocked a brow and gave a mock grin towards Chevalier.

His eyes widened and he bore his teeth. His pupils dilated as he began swooping across the table and knocking things over until he was directly in Henrietta Hare's face. The Jackals was something he didn't like to hear about really. As far as Chevalier was concerned, he was only part of the Mad Tea Party Society because Madame Hatter had invited him into the fray. The he was here only because of Harlequin Hatter saw his loathing hatred for the Heart of Darkness.

"I dare you to say that again. You know what I can do to you Etty? You know that I can disembowel you right where you sit? So lusciously draped over Harlequin like a love-sick puppy. You sick little bunny-girl."

Henrietta slammed her teacup on the table and thrust her chair out from behind her. Her stare cold and hard as she watched Chevalier's tail curl up and puff out to assert his dominance. Harlequin didn't want to watch a scene of violence unfold when she saw Chevalier's ears flatten against his head in anger. Her voice cool, calm, collected, and holding a tone of authority.

"Sit down. Both of you."

There was reluctance from both parties before Henrietta slowly pulled her chair back in and sat down. Chevalier did the same, only he sat on the table.

"Flea-bitten inbred."

"Etta." Harlequin snapped. Mistress Hare closed her mouth and took up her teacup again quietly. "My apologies."

"Well, I sure as hell refuse to be sorry." Chevalier sneered.

"You'll get yours someday my grinning little pussy cat. Now go find Delmont. He'll tell you what to do next." Harlequin Hatter pointed her stirring spoon at him with a foreboding tone. With his head tilted to the side, the man gazed at his benevolent benefactors and looked back and forth between the sumptuously petite Hatter and the voluptuously violent Hare with disdain before he hung his head and looked up at them with annoyance. He stood up on the table and gave the Madame and the Mistress a swift bow with his dangly and scrawny arms placed at his sides all gentlemanly-like. There was a pause before his trademark Cheshire grin spread out onto his face. "As my ladies command."

They suddenly watched as his body began to fade out part by part and by the time his locks of greasy purple hair faded out, his grin remained and he sang. 'And the momewraths are singing and shovelnoses weaving…'

--

Authoress note: Well, that was certainly a fun way to end this chapter, wouldn't you say? So then, are you all curious? Have you figured it out yet? That this Wonderland isn't really called Wonderland? Did it get ya on your toes when you wondered what this plan against the Heart of Darkness was? Huh? Well, too bad! You'll have to wait until chapter two. 'Til then, reviews are lovely, flames are good for toasty marshmallows, and questions are always welcomed.

Also, I'm aware the lyrics to the song he sings are incorrect. So shut up.

Thanks.


	2. Rabbits, Mice, and Cats Oh My!

Word from the Authoress: Well…I can see Chapter one went…well.

I guess I can thank those of you if you skimmed over it at all.

Ahem. Otherwise, here's Chapter Two for you.

-

Disclaimer 1: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Carol.

However…I have my own character ownership too.

Disclaimer 2: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, The Heart of Darkness, and of course the unnamed white heart' all belong to me.

Any rights I have violated, the admins of this site have the right to end my terms of service here to the site. Thanks.

-

"Give it to me straight Bunny boy!" Chevalier was dancing all around the neat little office of poor eccentric Reginald Rabbit. "Oh My! Do hurry...or I'm...going to be late?" He grinned devilishly, toying with the poor man. Reginald Rabbit had an awful tendency to freak out when time was mentioned in his case of being either late or tardy. Since Harlequin Hatter had brought him here in the beginning, Chevalier loved tormenting him. He liked poking him where it hurt the most. A scrawny little fellow smaller than him, someone who he could for once pick on without worrying about getting bit in the ass.

That was something Reginald was always afraid to do. For one, Reginald Rabbit wasn't as tall as his feline-like co-worker. He was short, had stress induced Tourette's when he was under heavy pressure, and finally he was highly OCD. He chattered his teeth, and often had to wear a retainer to help keep them straight as a result of it. Reginald's hand was always clenching and unclenching his watch, he washed his hands for 20 minutes on end after every meal, and freaked when his notes were out of alphabetical order. This just happened to be one of those days where his OCD went so far as to how he kept fidgeting with the buttons on his suit and wringing his ears in his hands.

Behind a completely white and disheveled desk, white rabbit ears poked up from underneath the structure before he scrambled into his spinning leather chair. "AH! LATE?!" Poor Reginald, Chevalier had to get him started. "Shoot! Am I late?! I don't recall having any kind of appointment with the Madame and Mistress today-What should I do?! What should I wear?! I'm la…" Chevalier's fingers closed over Reginald's mouth with a snarl. "Will you please shut up?! You're not late for anything and neither am I."

Settling back into his seat, Reginald Rabbit began organizing the things on his desk, trying calmly settle his shaking self down. "Eheh. Yeah...on time...Um...how can I help you today Mister Cat?"

"...Gimme the Mouse..." Chevalier grinned mischievously.

-

"...You were singing about those dreadful momewraths again." Delmont Dormouse was yawning obnoxiously to signal he REALLY didn't want to talk to Chevalier today. "I understand Madame Hatter and Mistress Hare sent you on that special mission. Tut..." Another yawn. "Tut...hmm...twinkle." He was slumped over on his podium in a light doze randomly before Chevalier yowled loudly to waken the philosopher.

"YEOWWWWRRRRR!!"

This method always worked perfectly because Delmont Dormouse only was up and running when Chevalier was chasing him like a madman. Oh wait...everybody was 'mad' here…or so they said. A stout little man who always wore his fluffy cloud pajamas the wrong way, Delmont Dormouse was twitching his wide-set ears back and forth on top of his head while going into a light doze on his podium, his voice stalling at some points.

"Monsiuer Cat, you have the duty of finding The White Heart we need to complete our Tea Party and overthrow the corruption of our home world." Delmont yawned softly, pulling out a giant white book and flipping through it lazily. "Hmmm."

"How the hell am I supposed to KNOW who this White Heart is mousy?" His brow cocked in a highly annoyed manner. "So, how will I know who I'm looking for anyways?"

"...The soul will be pure of corruption and her name shall not be Alice." He read from one page.

"'Well, that narrows TONS down!" Chevalier exclaimed in annoyance, throwing his arms out in anger. "You're LOADS of help!"

"You'll be seen as a threat to society there." Delmont continued despite Chevalier's protests.

"Like I haven't been seen as a threat before. Remember? I AM a cat. I HAVE double crossed people."

"...Cat, you wouldn't do that to Madame Hatter. She's been too good to you. If she hadn't rescued you, well, who would have?"

"YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?! SAY IT!" He snarled rabidly with his teeth glinting to show his jagged Cheshire grin turning into a nasty mess of sharp incisors.

Silence. Delmont looked down at his book of listed prophets: Confucius, Aristotle, and others he didn't care to think of right now. "Go forth, but remember you can't be everywhere and nowhere in the Grey Area. Your powers will not aid you there."

"I'll manage..."

-

The 'normal' world was classified as a forbidden zone in Teacup Towers. Absolutely, positively, posolutely, forbidden. Chevalier found himself in a rather odd place. The buildings were square; they were too tall, too short, and too…ugh! Normal. The word was dreadful to his rather large cat ears positioned on his head. Unfortunately when he had decided to enrage the Caterpillar, he had managed to have the damn creature throw his smoking pipe at him. He used it to his advantage to disappear in the smoke and somehow…reappear here. In this big city. With no clue what kind of 'White Heart' to look for. As far as Chevalier knew, he was looking for a girl. It was necessary for their 'White Heart' to be a girl. Not a boy.

It was never a boy they needed. He supposed they were trying to keep the ratio even between boys and girls. Three boys and three girls; Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Reginald Rabbit, Chevalier himself, Delmont Door Mouse, and now their 'white heart'. "All for what?" He asked to no one in particular.

Chevalier's gaze shifted rapidly from where he was standing. He found he was in some sort of place that was referred to as 'Times Square' from what he was hearing tourists and residents saying about the place. The skyscrapers towered above him, but were as dull and boring as this place was all ready. He hated it here. It smelled, it reeked of pollution, the people were moving around constantly like bilge rats, and he was smack dab in the middle of the street to top it off. "Ah. Fuck." He swore. Snapping his fingers in annoyance. He found that some of the sights made him baffled, if not slightly curious. These people were rule breakers. The light-up sign clearly ordered, 'DON'T WALK' and people walked anyways much to the aggravation of the drivers. This looked fun.

As if to further pester these people in the strange moving vehicles, he darted out in front of a well-known yellow looking one and accidentally got hit. All Chevalier felt was his body fly up into the air and suddenly land back down on the hood, putting a nice dent on the top of the taxicab. He looked pretty pissed off when he sat up, his head turned to stare at the man in the car that had enough nerve to try and run him over.

He listened as those around him were suddenly pointing, screaming, and gasping in worry. The shouts of some were frantic and hysteric. He couldn't see straight and he felt nausea rushing to his head and he suddenly felt his vision go blank, as he lay motionless on the hood of the car.

A woman holding a baby was yelling: "Is he all right?!"

"Somebody call 911!"

-

(End Chapter 2. Will Chevalier survive to Chapter 3 in this strange new world? Find out in the next installment of 9 Lives to Live).


	3. The Grey Area

Authoress Note: Yay! Two reviews. At least that's something, right? Thanks so much to Leki for revieiwing!

Now, I bet you're all quite worried about Chevalier…aren't you? Well, no worries! He does survive!

Muhaha! Chapter Three bitches! Enjoy.

Disclaimer 1: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Carol.

However…I have my own character ownership too.

Disclaimer 2: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, The Heart of Darkness, and of course the unnamed white heart' all belong to me.

Any rights I have violated, the admins of this site have the right to end my terms of service here to the site. Thanks.

--

He had passed out for only a few brief minutes before he finally sat up, much to the amazement of those around him. They stared in what was either horror or confusion. "Ugh." He grunted in annoyance. "What the hell was that supposed to be?"

"Can you move?!"

His ears flattened against the back of his head in annoyance. Chevalier had never felt so bent up. How was he going to fix this situation? Hm. He sat up as though nothing had happened and began cracking his muscles and joints back into place. His twisted leg was pushed back into the ball and socket-joint, his wrist realigned itself, and his tail-Oh! The poor baby!

"Shit!" He swore when he saw it writhing underneath the hood. The poor thing, it was stuck. He bent part of the hood up so that his tail had enough wiggle room to escape before it angrily puffed out. "Aww. I know baby, you're angry with me." When he got a good look at the situation and turmoil around him he realized that people were really staring at him with open mouths.

His ears twitched and he frowned. "Looking's for free my good people, but touching might cost you." He decided to do something funny. Maybe he should try disappearing in thin air just to cause some dramatic effect. The only problem was…

"What's this?"

His body, it wasn't disappearing. It normally did when he wanted to. What was happening? He thought that he wasn't normal in this place when he came here; he thought he was able to use all of his abilities to their full extent. Now all Chevalier happened to be was just a freak with cat ears, a tail, purple hair, and an over all weirdo that had just survived a car crash. He hurried off the hood of the taxi immediately just as the driver got out to get a good look at him. He had to get out of the streets and into somewhere secluded. Aha! Sanctuary. The cat man dashed forward with inhuman speed and into an open alley where he found it was a lot more comforting here than out in the open. Nobody would look for him...he hoped. To them he was just…now…what did they call it? A mental case? That was it most likely.

For now all he could do was curl up next to the trashcans he was sitting next to and decide to catnap while humming that song about the Momewraths again. 'And the momewraths are singing…and the shovelnoses weaving….'

In the weeks to come, Chevalier slowly adjusted to this new environment. This world of normalcy that his people called "The Grey Area", well, it certainly wasn't much to look at. "Sheesh. Topsy Turvy's more interesting than this shitty place. The rats are too tiny to even hear their body crack. At least in Topsy Turvy you can wrestle them to the ground with their size. What the hell kind of sad little place is this?"

He enjoyed to roaming around this place and doing as he pleased, Chevalier Cat was starting to at least have some kind of independence. He noticed as time passed, little bits of his powers started coming back to him in the new environment. Though he found his abilities to be halved. He could only make himself invisible to the human eye, but he couldn't warp anywhere. There was his inhuman speed that picked up when he was getting away from the cops after he got caught stealing food.

It wasn't too hard to get out of handcuffs when you're sitting in the back of a police car with your ears flattened against your head in annoyance while the cops jabbered on about 'having a nutcase in the back of the car' on some strange speaking device that a female voice would occasionally respond 'ten four' or 'copy that'. He felt his body curve to the way the vehicle was moving through the streets before he was brought to the police station where they put him in a cell for a few hours before taking him out for interrogation. They deemed him some kind of crackpot at some point. They asked him stupid things like where he came from, how old he was; they actually thought he was THAT funny so they let him off.

They asked rather stupid things too. He liked to add in lots of sarcasm to his answers.

"Name?"

"Chevlier Cat."

"…Uh. Okay."

-

"Age?"

"In human years, or cat years. Because in cat years, I can live for quite longer than you think."

The officers that had brought him in looked at each other funny and then looked at him funny. "Right. We'll just say…what? 22?"

"Yeah…" Chevalier's brow rose repeatedly with a cocky attitude. "Let's go with that."

-

"Now, have you been in New York long?"

"I just got here about four weeks ago." He gaze shifted to the information that the one officer was writing on a clipboard.

"So, you…just arrived here then. Immigration? Exchange program? _Illegal_…immigration?"

Chevalier shrugged. "I truly couldn't tell you my good fellows. I'm a little fuzzy on that department." His tail twitched. "Yes baby, I know." He cooed. Thank goodness they hadn't paid any attention to him.

"Well, he can't be an Illegal alien Paul, the guy's got a perfect English language for god's sake." The officer writing the information interjected before something got ugly.

"Fine. Look pal, do you have any family you're staying with? People in the apartment complex you hang around say you sleep behind a dumpster and the trashcans. Shit! The trash men even see you. Are you homeless or what?"

"…I live in a fucking basement back where I come from. What do you think?"

"Hey! Watch the language!"

"Paul, if he's homeless, he's homeless. Let's just leave it at that." The writing officer had his attention back on Chevalier to try and make peace. "Okay, you said you came from somewhere. Where is it?"

Well, he asked. So…Chevalier told them everything. By the time he'd finished his story, the officer called 'Paul' was even more perplexed than his partner, 'Davey' was. "Ohhh….oh kay."

"All right pal," He was released from the cuffs and given several different things: two clear plastic cups with white lids and labels on them, three ear swabs in a special case, and finally what looked like a pornography magazine. "Uh… thanks?" What the hell were they giving him this shit for?

Officer Paul tapped his foot with a rather distinct grin. "Now buddy. Listen up. We need to keep you over night for observation. So we're gonna need a urine sample, a semen sample, a mucus sample, a saliva sample, an ear wax sample, and finally a blood sample which will be taken by a doctor later."

Chevalier let his brow raise and he handed the 'nudie' magazine back. "Well, I don't need this to masturbate really…" He explained. "Now, if I may be so polite to ask you gentlemen…why the hell am I doing all these tests for?"

"Just to make sure you're not on drugs, son."

"Right…I ingested a whole fucking bottle of aspirin, snorted some opium this morning, got trashed at a party on Irish coffee, and shot up on heroine…" He said sarcastically. "Sure. I get it. You don't believe my story."

"…It's just an extra precaution kid."

"Yeah, yeah."

They didn't get it. They didn't KNOW he wasn't human. To them he was just some really weird costume wearing young man that had amazing athletic skills. To his own kind…well…Chevalier was just a Cheshire cat. There wasn't anything too special about him back in 'Topsy Turvy'. The authorities were all over him here and they had been all over him back there too. The Cardigans back home were sick of seeing his face, so they didn't even bother to make too much of an effort to capture him. These authorities here had run after him on foot and damn it were they fast.

So, he was led to a restroom in which the officers stood outside the door as he gave each sample.

"This is gonna be a long and interesting night. I wonder if I'll meet anybody else in this piece of shit dump place."

-

The teapot in Harlequin Hatter's smoothly shaped hand lifted up to pour a steaming hot cup of green tea into a mug that had been placed in front of Henrietta Hare. The tan, voluptuous, bunny woman had her head plastered to the table. Harlequin Hatter's eyes cast a glance upon her friend and she nudged Henrietta slightly. "Etta. Etta, come now. Get up. The Irish coffee Reginald made wasn't that bad." A lock of Henrietta's curly chestnut hair was being twirled around Harlequin's finger. "Etta…"

Henrietta's head slowly lifted up to give Harlequin this hard and long stare of 'go away' before her head lay against the table again. "Not now. I think I may be hung over and not know it." Etta growled, though the wood of the tea table muffled her response.

Harlequin frowned before sighing, hating to resort to this. "Etta, I have carrots."

-

Authoress Note: And I leave it at that. Lol. I hope you enjoy pondering about the next installment. It might be a few weeks. I've got a lot of schoolwork to do. Stay Tuned for the next chapter of 9 Lives to Live.


	4. Family Matters

Authoress Note: Yay! One more review! Thank you! Now I left off with a rather humorous cliffhanger last time, and I bet you're all wondering what Etta's reaction will be with the carrot reference, well here it is!

_Disclaimer 1: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Carol._

_However…I have my own character ownership too._

_Disclaimer 2: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, The Heart of Darkness, and of course the unnamed white heart' all belong to me._

--

In less than two seconds, Henrietta's head had shot up and she looked at her good friend like she'd choke the life out of her if she had lied. "Where?"

Harlequin Hatter should have regretted saying that, but she saved the moment by explaining. "I'm making carrot casserole for supper. I made some extra for your brother."

Etta scooted closer to the Hatter woman in her chair before drawling out. "Good, because if you were lying to me I would have HAD to strangle you Harley." Her emerald green gaze briefly skimmed over the sea of teacups and teapots all around the table. "I know you'll never lie to me Harley. You've done too much for me, and I cannot thank you enough."

"Ah…right." Harlequin chuckled awkwardly, always feeling uncomfortable when her dear friend brought up the past issues in their lives. "I wouldn't lie to you Etta. You're my best friend. You've always been there for me. So it's only right that I be there for you." Harlequin Hatter was reliving a rather painful memory at this moment. Her hand clutching over her heart as her chest tightened.

--

"How's my sister?"

"It's iffy. She's with her usual tea party group. Hmph. I'm getting sick of her pretending to do good for this world. This Mad Tea Party isn't fooling the Heart of Darkness…"

Hexavier Hatter wasn't buying into this crap Halviere Hare was giving to him. Just because his little sister and Henrietta Hare were best friends, didn't mean that Hexavier and Halviere had to be. "Your sister…"

"My sister has done nothing to you, so shut your mouth or I shall do so myself." Hexavier warned, pointing his finger at Halviere with a sneer on his cool dry lips, he listened to his battered top hat snarl at Halviere in such a manner that spoke all volumes of 'I will eat your soul'. Halviere's stare, at his much hated rival, was unfazed by this threat and merely swiped Hexavier's hat from his head and threw it to the other end of the room. Hexavier's head spun to look at the living top hat as it scurried around the floor frantically searching for its master. He listened to it whine, whimper, and protest its feelings for being so rudely thrown.

It grumbled as Hexavier knelt down with his hands held out as it loyally, yet reluctantly, crawled back into his hands and he put it on his head. Hexavier Hatter and his sister were notorious for their uncanny nature of wearing strange and well-crafted top hats. One thing about Hexavier's hat was that it was an actual a living thing. Halviere Hare listened to the beastly hat grumble in annoyance on Hexavier's head before he made a threatening motion to knock it off again. "Stop it Halviere." Hexavier growled. "What did Alverace do to you?"

Halviere's stare was unfaltering on the furry top hat that seemed to be lazily chewing on Hexavier's greasy black hair, whilst the Hatter's fingers tapped against the hat to make sure it wasn't eating his head. Standing at 6'2, Hexavier Hatter was only taller than his rival by a few inches that did not flatter Halviere in the least when Hexavier at least tried to make a good joke out of it. He recalled that The Hatters and The Hares always got along to some degree but he'd never met someone as detestable as Halviere. The older Hatter recalled the first time they had met after his younger sister, Harlequin (Harley), had brought Henrietta home when she'd found her new found friend unconscious in her own home.

Ever since, Halviere had detested Harlequin and he elder brother for helping Henrietta's condition of being addicted to aspirin after the very confused Hare parents tried to solve their daughter's slowly adapting autistic state by making her take it everyday. Before long, Harlequin started bringing Henrietta home every day for a cup of tea, a long sit down, and started to ween her friend from the pills that in her confused state she had taken at the order of her parents. Young Etta indebted herself to Harley as her best friend, even though Harley said it was unnecessary because she was just doing what her conscience told her to do. Halviere always blamed the Hatters for his younger sister's condition, even though both brother and sister Hare knew that it all had to do with issues that went on between their own family.

"My apologies, I lost my temper and threatened you when I should not have. It was wrong of me." Hexavier bowed politely in regret, only to have Halviere kick him in the gut because...well, Halviere didn't accept sincere apologies as well as he should have. Hexavier's tall, muscled frame, doubled over with his blazer lopsided and he fell on the ground clutching his stomach in pain. His ivory colored skin boiled with anger at Halviere, but he composed himself and sat on his bottom with a frown on his face. "I feel sorry for you..." He said softly, almost ashamed to be admitting it to the man that he disliked. "Because you don't take compassion and good will well."

Halviere Hare was a disagreeable man, not even her majesty, the Heart of Darkness, would have any use for him because he was so detestable. His detestable nature was so great that she decided Halviere wasn't worth sending to the guillotine when he was put on trial for some obviously absurd reason. So the Hare boy walked free without a single, ahem, hair harmed on his Hare head. Hatter and Hare were both tall and lanky men, each well built with muscles and athletic capabilities they failed to show to each other in case they anticipated a fight and one of them pulled something sneaky on the other.

Halviere was tan, almost like that romance novel model...what was his name...Fabio? Fabian? Fago? Halviere didn't care. He knew what he looked like, and he was no handsome Italian boy. He wasn't any kind of boy. Halviere and Hexavier were men. Well...they were very different men. Hexavier's features were far different from his adversary's. He was obviously tall with a muscular built, but he was horribly pale. Up close, Hexavier looked like he was a full on anemic. Though, the doctors didn't find a medical reason why because Hexavier refused to go to one when his younger sister insisted it.

Hexavier had some dirty scars and secrets to hide under his long-sleeved white dress shirts, cravats, and blazer. He didn't want anybody seeing the scars of his torment in Dungeon of Jackals at the castle. "...How close are they to finding the Legendary White Heart?" Halviere asked as he started out the window of the kitchen they were standing in. Hexavier had invited the Hare to his home, to the kitchen than to the dining room. Hexavier and Halviere never sat down in the same room together.

When the two were in the same room together, they stood as far away from each other as humanly possibly. Hexavier shrugged, playing with the buttons on his blazer in a bored fashion while checking a pocket attached to some kind of brace strapped around his left wrist. "Harley says that their philosopher Delmont Doormouse...he started reciting things in his sleep. He studied up so much on this legend he started taking various stolen medications from the 'Grey Area' to keep him awake as he read. I wish he'd just get a decent amount of sleep and wake up early." He took of a pair of crooked glasses on his face to clean them off.

"Delmont is a valuable asset to them?" Halviere asked.

"Oh, no doubt about that. He's a philosopher. He's there secret weapon."

"...I thought that wretched flea-bitten cat was." There was skepticism in the Hare's voice.

"Careful Halviere, your hearings sharper than your sight." Hexavier chuckled; he ducked when one of his own hot piping pots of tea crashed into the sink beside him. Hexavier winced. "...It was just a figure of speech."

"You keep insulting me I'll have the Heart of Darkness recommend your head for the guillotine." Halviere turned on his heels, his steel-toed boots making distinct 'clunking' noises as he walked away. His brown bunny ears twitching on top of his head while his cottontail made crooked movements from his tight denim pants.

"But Halviere..." Hexavier grinned at him. The light coming from the window had made Hexavier look eerie and dangerous. "Don't you get it?"

He took a step towards the Hare. "...We're all mad in the Tea Party, You were once part of it too."

"...Don't count on it. Two Mad Tea Parties would look suspicious."

--

It was so many years ago that Harlequin and Henrietta had first met. At this time the Hatters and Hares were becoming reacquainted with the newest generations of each other's families. Harley and her mother had made an assortment of cakes. Some were teacakes, shortcakes, cupcakes, side cakes, bunt cakes, and a numerous amount of other bizarre treats and sweets that couldn't be explained in thorough detail.

Harlequin Hatter was 9 years old at the time when she and Henrietta had first met. The day the young Hatter brought the cakes over to the Hares' house, she found a frightening seen of Henrietta stumbling around the house with her elder brother, who was older than her by at least 7 years, trying to steady his sister in an empty household. The parents weren't home, which came as a shock to Harlequin The Hatter family had always been around with their children unless their mother was running errands or their father was handling mercury in the basement to deliver to the Queen of Darkness' castle. Henrietta seemed to be incoherent in her speech and babbled on about something she ingested.

Her elder brother, Halviere Hare kept shouting at Harley to get out of their home or he'd kill her. It wasn't until Hexavier Hatter; Harlequin's own elder brother had stepped in to remedy the situation. Halviere and Hexvier were both the same age ironically to the surprise of the other neighboring individuals in their town. Harlequin's first reaction was to leave the cakes behind and help Henrietta because it was what her conscience told her to do. She tried to help the poor Hare girl in the right direction. In lieu of the unfolding scene, Halviere tried to pull Harlequin from his sister with fury, he started screaming that it was the entire Hatter families' fault that Henrietta was acting so funny. He blamed others for problems deeply seeded in the Hare family.

Henrietta wouldn't speak for a good few hours after the Hatters had arrived. She just sat there at the kitchen table in silence with her elder brother staring down at Harlequin and Hexavier with scorn. In an attempt to breakthrough to the confused and utterly autistic Etta, Harley did something unexpected and started passing an empty saucer back and forth to Etta like it was a game. The tensions slowly began to falter from the younger children. Etta's responses were slow and steady as Harley slid the saucer across the table to Etta.

The responses grew stronger through the years. Hexavier later revealed Henrietta's condition as a mild form of autism that Etta had grown out of due to Harley's games with her when they were younger. It was rare for Halviere to explain anything about his family but on the day his sister first said his name, he confessed only that little bit of information before he had turned on his heel and simply left the children to their game. Henrietta was strong, she was edgy, and she and Harlequin were rather close in their childhood, just as they were now in adulthood.

Harlequin Hatter recalled the games they played and even the worst memories of when Halviere would yell and scream at Harlequin to stop doing his 'job' of taking care of his sister. Apparently it was believed Harley was trying to steal Henrietta from him.

"But Mister Halviere, I just wanted to know if Etta could come out and play." Harlequin whined.

"No. I've all ready told you, and I won't tell that wretched brother of yours more than once. Etta is not allowed to play with you…" Halviere's darkened gaze bore down upon the Hatter child in scorn from the Hare Household doorway. "Now, get."

"…But, I promised Etta we'd make carrot biscuits today. You can have some too. You can even help us make 'em. Please Mister Halviere?"

"I don't want any of your disgusting, nasty, diseased…" He began tortured rant before Henrietta appeared from behind him.

"Halvi? Is Harley here yet? I wanted to make biscuits with her today. Oh! Hi Harley!"

"Etta, your brother says you can't come out and play today."

"Hm? Halvi! How could you be so mean to Harley? You know I hate it when you do that to my friend. Stop being a meany head!"

Halviere winced at Henrietta's scolding of him, and eventually he stormed off in anger. "Fine! Do what you like, I don't give a damn!" He snarled.

Harlequin watched the elder Hare sibling storm up the stairs to his little lair of a bedroom before there was a nasty slam of his door. She winced at the loud noise. "Etta…"

"Harley…It's okay. Don't cry, don't cry. Halvi's just…"

"He hates me…" Then the tears came.

--

"Yeah…" Harlequin murmured softly as she returned from her flashback. Henrietta's gaze followed Harley's eyes before the young Hatter woman slumped onto the table and threw her top hat across the tea table before breaking down into sobs. Memories were not well liked by Harlequin when thinking of Henrietta and the tension with her best friend's elder brother.

"He still hates me Etta…He still hates me."

--

This wasn't so bad. Compared to being sent to the Dungeon of Jackals before, Chevalier had to admit, being stuck in a cell with several other guys that were waiting to get out for misdemeanors or whatever they called them. He could see a few were homeless bums, some were grungy potheads, a few were some random fucks shooting up in public restrooms, and the others were mainly there for one reason or another. This place was nothing compared to the dungeons in her royal-pain-in-the-fuckin'-ass's castle. Chevalier liked it.

Ah. Here was a familiar face approaching him now. The officer that had handcuffed him, Paul. "Hey Paulie…" Chevalier grinned obnoxiously.

"Well, we haven't decided to release you yet kid, but just thought I'd give you some good news. You're not on drugs."

"See, when I tell the truth you feel like shit don't you?" Chevalier's grin died. "It's not funny anymore when you realize you were wrong, is it?"

"Look, I'm not here to prod you in the ass with my baton, 'kay? I just came here to tell you, we're holding you a little longer to make sure that the goods you stole weren't damaged and you can just do some community service for your behavior. All right?" Paul tapped his foot in annoyance. "Do you understand?"

"Do I get my own cell then? I'm sick of the smell of pot here officer." Chevalier waved a hand in front of his face. Well? I'm waiting Paulie?"

"That's Officer 'Paulie' to you." The cop pointed his finger at him.

Chevalier rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. What the hell ever, I won't be here too long."

As the officer walked away, Chevalier's gaze turned to the others behind him. "Well fellas, who got arrested for what?" He asked quite cheerfully, before his face split into his trademark grin, but with a little more malice to it.

There was a burly Hispanic man sitting off to the side, glaring at him. "Hey, cholo. I tried to stab somebody, what've you done? Huh?"

A few of the cellmates who were sober made mumbled and small arguments of how they did worse things.

They responses were: "Starved my dog."

"Beat up my girlfriend."

"Stabbed some guy at a bar."

"Got caught with a few ounces of pot in my car."

"What about you…ya freak. What'd you get in here for?"

Chevalier's back was to them, not really listening to what they were saying. Their crimes? Those were nothing compared to what he did back in Topsy Turvy. So he couldn't help but turn to them in calm confidence before he responded. "Well…I'm a 'freak' so to speak gentlemen. But also…I've been in prison longer than you fistful of assfucks have ever been in. Not here, but…back home where I come from." He ran his fingers through his greasy hair. "Heh. See, here the conditions are much better than my homeland. It's not pleasant. See, here, stealing is a misdemeanor, but where I come from…it's a felony."

"Bullshit! Where are you from? What? Russia?"

"Well, it's a little place I like to call Topsy Turvy." His gaze darkened and his teeth got sharper. "See, It's more like a torture chamber than a prison fellas. If you get caught stealing, they jab you with cattle prods and brand you all over for your sins." Chevalier's ears twitched in a cocky manner.

"You're makin' that up!"

"Yeah, either you shot up and the cops didn't find out or you're just crazy."

Chevalier's tail snapped off and he grasped the writhing fuzzy thing in his hands. The other prisoner's gaped at him as the tail still writhed in Chevalier's fingers. He briefly caressed the other entity before grinning again. "Yeah…" He lashed it out like a whip in fury at the others, watching some of them move quickly as the tail warped from that of a fuzzy appendage to a dangerous weapon. "I get that a lot." He lashed it again, his eyes murderous. "I get that way to fucking much for my taste!"

Before the commotion in the cell died down, the tail changed back to its normal state and he let it attach itself back to his behind. "…See guys, we're all mad here."

"What's goin' on in here, Kitty Boy?" Paul growled, trekking over with thundering footsteps. "I heard a ruckus."

"Would you describe the ruckus, officer?" Chevalier's ears perked up. "Because wouldn't it be better if you specified."

"I'm watchin' you kid." Paul pointed at him warningly.

"Cat." Chevalier corrected with a grumble.

"What?"

"I'm a cat…The Cheshire Cat." His grin came back again.

"Sure you are…"

--

Authoress Note: Yay! Chapter 4 Is all done! Hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Chapter 5 will be up very soon and you'll get to meet the Legendary 'White Heart'. Dun dun dun….


	5. Ball Games

Authoress Note: Oh…No reviews eh? Well, if that's how it's gonna be, I'll just keep myself motivated by writing up long ass chapters. I made one that was 57 pages long a long time ago, but…we shall not go there.

Disclaimer 1: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Carol.

However…I have my own character ownership too.

Disclaimer 2: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, The Heart of Darkness, and of course the unnamed 'white heart' all belong to me.

--

He'd been stuck here for about 24 hours now, so there was only one thing that Chevalier wanted to know. "HEEEEEY." He meowed in annoyance. "When the hell am I getting out of this waste bucket? I'm hungry."

The cops couldn't hold him really; Chevalier's ears were quite adept at picking up their voices when they were in another office or at a very good distance away. Like for instance:

"You know Davey, if you're really having so many problems with your son, all ya need to do is knock some sense into him. Most of my acquaintances like to do that with me when I misbehave. Then again, I'm an animal. It's hard to break me of that habit." He chuckled.

From the rolling chair that Officer David Liston was sitting in, Chevalier watched the figure of authority spin it so that he was staring at the bizarre cat man in his cell. After what had happened with the other inmates, Davey couldn't chance anything with this kid. Chevalier was weird enough with his appearance, behavior, body language, and his tone of voice. He was annoying and conniving all in one. Unlike Paul, Chevalier had a harder time testing Officer Davey's patience. "Who told you about my son?"

"Hello? Uh, I can hear you." His cat ears flicked on his head: first the right one and then the left one. "It's not that hard. How many times do I have to tell you people that I'm a cat?" Chevalier's brow cocked as he came closer to the bars and took a nice, big, loud, and quite obnoxious yawn. Davey rolled closer to Chevalier's cell. "Yeah, we've heard your story kid…"

"Look," Chevalier hissed, grasping the bars with a bit more attitude than he had been showing when he first got arrested. "I'm telling you the truth. It's like you think I'm…quite _mad_ or something. Really. All right, so what if I am?" He asked with a scoff. "Everybody's mad. It's a crazy world out there Davey-boy." Chevalier's golden orbs glinted at the police officer sitting in front of him. "I'm not some 'kid' really. I'm much older than you think."

"Okay, so you're a little strange. I'm buying that act so far. Sounds logical, given your whole appearance." Davey shrugged. The man must have been what? Fifty? Fourty-seven at the least, perhaps. "So, if you could hear me all the way over there talking to Paul, what about my son did you hear?" Davey stood up. "I doubt you heard much."

Chevalier knew this would be a pretty good opportunity to talk his way out of this situation, maybe get out too. _'It's not that I'm not capable of escaping this poorly guarded cell but…I've yet to endure any real torture or physical suffering. So I'll bide my impatience.'_ He thought to himself. "Well…" The purple haired man began. "You and Paulie apparently are discussing parenting methods right?"

"…Okay. You heard that then. What did you hear?" Davey was starting to look at Chevalier with disbelief. How could this guy have heard them all the way on the other side of the room? "So…what's your take on it?"

Chevalier shrugged. "Like I said, if your son, Joey, is acting up you just need to knock some sense into the brat." It was really the simplest answer he could give. "I could think of much more brutal methods to apply to disciplining your child, but I'm not a parent and I don't remember much of my own kin." He explained only in brief detail. Davey was the only piece of shit worth talking to in this confinement. "Joey, to me, seems like he's got some self-esteem issues. He's only, what? 17? Hanging with his crazy friends, spray painting walls,"

His familiar grin came to his face again. "Shall I continue?"

Davey was staring at Chevalier in wonder. There was no way. There was just _no_ possible, _human_, explanation for Chevalier repeating everything he heard."…Are you psychic? Did one of the inmates you scared shitless earlier listen in for you? "

"I'm. A. Cat." Chevalier repeated, clicking his tongue. "So, do you still think I'm deaf as a dormouse?" His brows rose repeatedly in suggestion. "Come on Davey. You can't hold me in here forever. It was just, what? A loaf of bread? A pack of sardines? I've been stealing things my whole life just for survival." This was it. This was where he could put in the drama, and Chevalier was quite convincing. Since most of this was true, he would sugar it up. "Look, I'm not trying to be a criminal here Davey-boy, I'm just trying to figure my way around."

"If I were Paul, I'd have all ready booked you and you'd be in the state penitentiary by now." Davey rubbed his wrinkled temples. "What else did you hear? Tell me more…you've got my attention…uh…What'd you say your name was?" The officer asked.

"Catt. Chevalier. C. Catt." His tail swished back and forth lazily. "And I all ready know yours Davey."

With a sigh, the Officer sat back in his chair and listened as Chevalier prattled on every single sentence that he had heard. He mentioned Joey's brief run in with pot, some fist fights, degrading speech to his mother, even badmouthing his own sister. "Davey…your kid sounds fucked up, if you pardon my French. Not my name, just my language." He chuckled in brief humor at the little joke he'd made.

Davey stared long and hard at the freakish, lithe, cat man sitting on the bed in the cell. "He didn't used to be like that…" He mumbled. "I just don't know what do with him anymore. He's a different person." A hand ran through his graying, thinning hair. "Ugh. I can't stand it. My daughter's the only one who's really getting hurt by this. She's 14 and doesn't know why her brother is treating us all like we're the enemy."

"He's motivated by peer pressure." Chevalier said casually. "Oh, whoop-dee doo. Tell you what, if I give this kid of yours a…phone call,"

"It's against protocol." Davey interjected suddenly, rather serious in his tone.

"You can't hold me here Davey." Chevalier snapped. "I'll get out, with or without your help. I AM privileged to one phone call."

"No, no. Not to my kid." The police officer was on his feet and walking away. "I can't risk it. You may think you're pretty damn smart Chevalier, but you can't get by me. I've been a police officer for 25 years; you're not going to get out of there. I've seen every trick in the book, but your just fucked-up. No. I can't. I'm sorry kid…I can't." He was stricken with horror; it had been a close call. That was too close.

Chevalier shrugged. "Suit yourself Davey-boy…Oh," He chuckled, with his back turned to the other. "By the way Davey…"

"What now?!" Davey snapped, angry now. "I told you, n…" He trailed off and his gaze drifted onto the now open cell that revealed Chevalier without the bars in front of him. There he was, standing straight on his feet, and in the curve of his tail, were his keys.

Davey did a double take as the tail jingled them back and forth and Chevalier's grin grew bigger. "I'm not just 'fucked-up' as you say. I'm actually quite mad." He tittered, throwing the keys back at Davey with his tail. "Don't even bother asking _how_, David. I told you and you wouldn't believe me."

Davey caught the keys and then went straight for his gun. But before he could pull it out, he found that Chevalier was right behind him. "See, I can see why your son has no respect for you. It seems like you don't have any respect for yourself. I mean, look at you. You're getting up there. You're not even _near _my age Davey-boy.

"You're only 47, and I'm…at least a good 5 centuries older than you." He grabbed the hand that gripped the gun. Officer David Liston froze in his tracks as Chevalier's hand clasped around his own that was reaching for the weapon. "You humans are so easy to be temperamental with…" He sneered. "That's why I don't like you. You're too vain for your own good and you stink of envy." His eyes had caught on to the fear in Davey's own gaze by now.

"Jesus Christ…how the hell did you get my keys?" Davey's voice was shaking as Chevalier's grip tightened on his wrist. For a scrawny little guy, this kid had an iron grip. "Just tell me the secret Chevalier. I'll let you walk. I promise."

"Promises can be easily broken Davey-boy. I break promises a lot to people I know…How do I know you won't?" Chevalier sneered. His teeth, now jagged, clicked against each other as he kept a steady hand on Davey's wrist. "Tick-tock."

"…I'll give my son a call and tell him what you want to say to him."

Well, that was an interesting turn around. At least it would be his own words but being said through someone else. "Fine…" He let Davey go and slinked around in front of the police officer. "I've told you so many damn times today Davey. But I guess I'll have to repeat myself again. It's like you've got that disease they call Old Timer's."

"…Alzheimer's?"

"Whatever."

"Tell me, Chevalier."

"I'm The Cat."

"What do you mean by that?

"I'm a Cheshire Cat."

"Tell me more Chevalier…Tell me…"

"Tell your son this…" His eyes glinted. "If he doesn't get his act together, stop harassing his sister, badgering his mother, and giving into peer pressure, you inform him that you'll see to it personally that he shall be receiving an unpleasant visit from someone who's even more dangerous than he is. Tell him that I'm someone who doesn't fear the consequences of his actions." Chevalier clicked his tongue, his tail wishing. "It's as simple as that. Also, if he fails to shape up from my warning, I'll crawl into his room at night, through a locked window, and choke him with the amount of pot he has hidden under his mattress. Is that in any way unclear?"

Davey's hand rose over the cell phone on the desk next to him. "…Done." The officer was staring at the back of the grungy pink and purple striped sweater Chevalier was wearing as he opened the phone.

"Oh and Davey, just one more thing…" Chevalier's head cocked to the side and then he spun on his heels to face the other.

Just as the voice on the other line picked up on David Liston's cell phone, Chevalier had swiped it from him. "Don't even bother trying to track me down."

Davey reached for the phone frantically before Chevalier spoke into the receiver. "Hello Joey?"

"Who's this? Dad?"

"Give me my phone!" Davey begged.

"…You better hope to God, all that pot under your mattress is gone…because if it's not…you'll be deep-throating it by the time I'm done with you." Chevalier tossed it back to Davey with his trademark grin on his face, and he suddenly faded into nothing.

Oh the wonders of invisibility.

--

It had been a long a trying evening, Reginald Rabbit had stayed up half the evening with Delmont Dormouse sorting through document after document of all of Chevalier's latest information obtained in the past on Madame Hatter's errands. Anything that could provide more information into 'The White Heart' legend was crucial. The skittish bunny-boy was sitting beside the plump little philosopher as he frantically filtered the case files over and over again. Delmont was asleep and Reginald was getting hungry. As a Rabbit, it had always been his prime concern to try and eat as much as possible before staying up into long hours of the night working on these sorts of things.

He had meant to get up and take a break four hours ago, but Reginald's severe OCD had prevented him from doing anything else once he had gotten caught up in the sorting and filing. It was a grievous ailment he tried so hard to overcome through his childhood and it was even harder to handle in his adulthood. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He was cursing under his breath before he slumped down on the kitchen table and began sobbing. "I can't stop, why can't I stop? I want to stop!"

Delmont's large, rounded, ears wiggled slightly and he lazily lifted his head up. With his eyes half-lidded, the philosopher merely shrugged and mumbled. "Call Etta…Knock you out of it."

Reginald's options for his OCD were limited. He refused to take medication for it. It wasn't that the medication wouldn't help him; it was just that he claimed that medicine made him a different person. He didn't know how to explain his condition because it was warped. If he did take any kind of medicine to help him with it the chemicals and balances in the prescriptions would somehow set him off.

He wouldn't be his sweet and usual self like he usually would be if he went on medication. The poor man was wringing his ears in his hands as he continued crying. "No, no. I can't Del. I absolutely can't. I have to stay here with the paperwork." His eyes were red and puffy from crying, and his pink irises made his eyes look bloodshot when he cried. He looked a mess, continued crying for a few more minutes before he finally managed to drag himself away from the table and pick up the old fashioned telephone next to his refrigerator and dialed the number to Harlequin's house.

The line rang a few times before it was picked up and Hexavier Hatter spoke into the receiver. "Hatter residence. Madame Hatter is out at this time this is Master Hatter speaking. May I help you?"

"Oh!" Reginald sniffled into the receiver. "Hex. It's me. Reginald. I-I was looking for Miss Etta. I had no idea Harlequin wasn't in. Shall I call back later?" Reginald rubbed at his tiny little nose and choked back another cry as his OCD settled in and his fingers were twirling around the phone cord. "DAMN IT!"

Hexavier pulled the phone away from his ear when Reginald shouted. "Ahem. If I can be of assistance in Miss Henrietta's place, I'd be glad to help. You're really the only other 'hare' family member I can speak to civilly." The elder Hatter sibling sighed. "What is it Reginald?"

Reginald fidgeted in the spot he was standing in. "I-I…" He trailed off before crying. "I need help!" He bawled. "I can't stop. I can't stop my OCD! I need help!"

"You need a psychiatrist, is that it?"

"For God sakes Hexavier! I'm OCD not crazy." Reginald cried into the receiver. "You're not helping at all, you're making me feel worse."

"So stop crying about it…" Hexavier tapped his fingers against the coffee table in his living room in annoyance. "You're smart Reginald. You know there are other ways around your condition than medicine."

"You're the only one who tells me it's not safe for me to take it. You and Madame Hatter at least."

"My sister knows what's best for everybody." Hexavier shrugged in his seated position with the phone to his ear. "Look, drop by tomorrow I'll cook something up to see what we can do about it."

The elder Hatter could hear Reginald dropping his phone in frustration on the other end. "Reginald?"

"God damnit!"

Hexavier held the phone away from his ear. "Oww…"

Once Reginald had regained his composure, he sighed. "I kind of need it tonight though. I need something to help me and I can't leave Delmont alone because Chevalier might come back and eat him."

"…Mr. Cat is in The Grey Area. If I am not mistaken."

Reginald's jaw dropped. "MADAME HATTER SENT HIM _THERE_?!" He almost fainted. The very thought made his ears point sharply upward and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on ends. "Does she know how much trouble or damage he could do to those poor humans?"

Hexavier shook his head on the other line. "Reginald, my sister knows what she's doing. I'm sure that he's having his fun, but if he'd killed anybody, wouldn't Harlequin know?"

Reginald was shaking. "…I don't know. I don't think she would."

"My sister knows Etta and Chevalier better than anything Reginald. She would know. Now, am I coming over or are you coming over here?" Hexavier grumbled.

There was silence before Reginald answered. "Just don't let Halviere see you coming over here. He hates it when I keep things from him and his sister."

--

Throughout the many years recorded within crinkled pages of musky yellow were born tales of the unnatural in books dating back years and years to times of darkness and barbarism. Legends of great monstrosities craving mortal flesh in Europe with the whisperings of the very faerie folk of magic taking part in some ethereal dance beneath a harvest moon in far Ireland. There were so many fables harvested from around the spinning world! To this era and dawning age have those fairy tales become but creative lessons to explain the unexplained and unknown.

Bits and pieces of the sentences were like shattered fragments scattered into the forlorn books of history and culture throughout the years. She wondered how so many longed to walk the same steps of another within the stories; curious how ever they were to live, breathe, or function without the technology and mundane rituals of the modern age whether it be non-fiction or complete fantasy. Multiple souls wandered out into the desolate streets that day. The blaring horns of cars still occupied the streets paved in grime and grease. It seemed that the toxic exhaust had become the natural air for these folk sauntering about whether it be coming home from work, going to work, or taking in the pleasures at quaint pubs and clubs lively with roaring music and thrusting, sweltering bodies late in the evening.

It was quite a tragic sight to take in. Nobody these days even cared to look in at the beautiful world they lived in. Sometimes she still wondered what beauty was really left in this world. The metallic skyscrapers of the looming dark buildings towered high, as if so wistful to touch the ever-distant heavens smoldered in clouds of pillowy snow and newly heavy charcoal gray. She was rudely awakened from her daydreaming by an annoyed yell.

"Tabby, hurry up and get the damn ball!"

An irritable sigh parted from pursed and rosy lips. _'Not this again.'_ Couldn't these lazy asses go and fetch the wretched toy rather than pester her about it? The gaping and leathery red mouth of the classic book was loudly slapped closed; revealing every bit of annoyance festered within its keeper. Such a treasure, regretfully, had been placed down onto the aged and worn bench seat and golden letters of its title glistened within the radiant glow of the light: _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_.

Slowly rising from her once comfortable seat, unhappy eyes of caramel pools gazed onto the rowdy bunch of hooligans having paused from their loud and late romp. Not the brightest of choices to accompany friends to the park only so that they could hone their 'game' skills, especially when their female cohort was attempting to finish reading a book due to the library itself in good time. The toe of one converse shoe tapped against the ground in waiting for the booming laugher of the four young men, pumping with testosterone, to silence down. The day, as predicted, had been chilly with a touch of winter in all courtesy of Jack Frost himself. Not yet had the temperature warmed up, regretfully.

Wound snugly about the girl's slender throat was a woolen scarf of stripped black and red. Few buttons closed the leathery coat worn due to the toasty few layers of shirts worn beneath it, though due to multiple slits and torn rips to the coarse jeans at her hips, goose bumps ran up creamy and exposed flesh and ensued a case of chills. Cinnamon hair cascaded down her back in soft waves, curling here and there, portraying a touch of wildness to the visage of the young woman.

Though worn atop her head had been a black beanie, sporting a pair of cute faux feline dark ears and sinister sewn eyes within the soft material that was keeping her own ears heated, nice and snug. Slender shoulders rolled back in a long stretch before gloved hands slipped onto curvaceous hips in a patient stance.

"Can't you see that I'm reading?" She asked rather irritated.

"Yeah, we see and now we want you to go get the ball. Come on, pleeeeeaaase, Tabby?" one, Sam, asked and batted lashes in a blameless, angelic fashion. Why did he think that would work again?

Oh, she'd forgotten, the guy had an adorable expression. Succumbing to the cutesy face, Tabitha turned. How she absolutely, incredibly, inexcusably despised that look able to turn feelings at the drop of a hat. Now where did the infamous ball go? Oh, right.

As to not leave the precious book behind very long, she broke out into a brisk run. Rosy cheeks grew numb against the cold of the passing gale nipping the soft and warm skin tenderly between icy teeth. Having been pointed the way as to where the bouncing blur of black and white had rolled, the silhouettes of trees were long forgotten as soon the familiar glum and desolate streets had been discovered once again. Decayed they appeared, the buildings, dried and peeling faces glowering menacingly with chipped and vacant windows serving as soulless eyes at any daring to draw near.

Eyes slowly squinted, and a victorious beam curled onto full and colored lips—there! Glass crumbled into fine powdered dust beneath slowing heels, and finally, they came to a halt. Cradled at the base of a trashcan was settled the battered soccer ball within a large and yawning alleyway. The rank aroma of sewage and age scrunched her smooth nose up, very well taking no liking to such a powerful, detestable whiff.

"There you are, now let's get you back!" the girl murmured. It was a rather bad habit, a terrible one so many dictated to her countless times: talking to herself. Lowered down onto her haunches as to seize the simple item, a content hum had slipped her lips, childish in melody and merry to the heart.

--

Officer David Liston had not anticipated his escape from the holding cell but Chevalier had planned it out in his mind since he and Davey had first struck up their deep conversation. He felt kind of bad for having to take such measures on the man, but he was sick of being in that cell. Too bad, Davey seemed like a swell guy. "Time to get back to that dump of an alley I'm currently living in. I AM after all homeless." Chevalier rolled his eyes while cracking his knuckles.

"Wonder how that blasted Jabbs Wocker is." Chevalier's ears twitched. Upon just returning to his alley, he found a peculiar object nestled by the side of the dumpster he slept behind. It was round, it was black and white and…

"A ball…" He whispered in awe. There are unearthly forces that give you good karma. In less than several moments he had cocked his head back and crouched on all fours. His tail swished back and forth before he finally pounced for the soccer ball and rolled around with it in glee. "Ahahahah! He cackled, snagging it in his spindly fingers and rolling around on the ground with it as though he really were a cat. "Ahahaha! Entertainment! Yes!" Finally, he had a ball of some sort of toy to play with while doing errands. All the while he had no idea that he wasn't alone. Chevalier was too lost in his glee with a plaything before he realized...something smelled funny.

His ears twitched on his head and his neck slowly cricked to look at the person who was staring at him before he grunted. "What are you looking at?"

--

Perhaps it would be far better to just return the ball, pick up her book again, and then return to the familiar and warm walls of her bedroom and curl up up-side down to continue and then, only then, finish the classic story. Ah yes, that sounded absolutely impeccable! With that idea embedded into her mind, the girl had reached down to seize the ball, but…only thin air alone could be felt.

"Hm?"

Oh no, was her mind going just a bit loony on her again? Countless times family did josh and joke about her being a dozen eggs short of an omelet, quite the basket case, and other little funny comparisons and remarks due to her sometimes unique actions and nature. Ah, but in better nature they were shrugged off or encouraged with a silly remark and playful little grin set afterwards. Yet by one glance at the man seeming to bat and play with the very soccer ball...it was a proven fact that the mind of the girl had to be going mad. Large and quizzical honey eyes stared in some wonder at the sight of Chevalier.

From the clothing worn, to the color scheme, to his oily locks of violet...and then...those twitching furry magenta ears and pleased tail. Such was an odd sight; her gloved hand came up, rubbing sore eyelids before staring in some bewildered gawk again. It was when dear Chevalier opened his mouth and allowed a word to escape and be uttered, Tabitha managed to once again find her voice. "Obviously I'm looking at you...who has my ball...that I need back. Please and thank you." She answered simply.

Were those real? Those ears she saw immediately began moving back and forth in annoyance and before she knew it, then suddenly they were pinned back against his head. Tabitha's gaze grew bewildered. Was this…for real?

This THING was staring at him.

This odd person in this world of boring was staring at him funny. "Hmph! Rules always rules. Rules this. Rules that. Follow the leader. Yesssss...Your Majesty."

He seemed to be in a foul mood once she wanted her ball back. Though in all honesty he didn't see the point of playing with it anymore. "Fine." He said casually, holding it out to her with his outstretched hand before he snatched it back playfully and began treating it like a hacky-sack. "Haha ha..." He chuckled, continuing to play with it.

He proceeded to mess around and play with the ball around her just a little more before he finally held it out in his hands. "You know...I recently was hit by a car and the people around me weren't very nice. They asked if I needed a doctor and I said: For my body: no, for my mental state...perhaps." He nodded, as though saying the last part to himself. "But...I do a lot of favors for people I know."

Just as he went to hand the ball right into her fingers, he hesitated and drew it back slightly. "What do I get out of this if I give it back to you?" He asked, brow cocked.

"If you've got a mouse, a fish, or catnip it'd be lovely. Then we could call it a deal and the ball's yours again." He held out his free hand, which had suddenly disappeared underneath his sleeve. Chevalier shook it out in annoyance before realizing his hand HAD gone. Oh bother. "Fuck." He cursed softly. "Pardon moi." He said with an obviously annoyed look before he bit the invisible air where his fingers were and his hand reappeared again. "Ouch!" He growled out, smacking his hand with a sneer. "I understand we can't just reappear somewhere, but please...let's keep it together." He turned his head towards his tail. "GOT IT?" He hissed.

The tail twitched rapidly in anger before Chevalier hissed at it. "Shuddyap!"

Immediately the tail flicked back into its place and Chevalier snorted. "Thank you."

Tabitha stared at Chevalier with her mouth slightly agape then as he carried on a short conversation with his very real tail. Her gaze fluttered over the flicking appendage as it squirmed on his posterior before Chevalier held the ball out closer. "Well?"

Tabitha took it from him then, their fingertips briefly touched before she had the ball back in her grasp. "Well, I unfortunately can't invite a complete stranger into my home, so I'll have to bring it back to you here. Which do you prefer? Tuna or Sardines?" She clutched the ball to her. _'I can't believe I'm actually going to provide this creepy whack-job with some kind of food to eat. Oh well, damage is all ready done. I did promise him.' _She thought, her mind not in its proper place before Chevalier clicked his teeth together impatiently.

"Ahem…" He grumbled out. "If you're going to take forever with the goodies, you can just keep the damn ball. I don't particularly car much." He explained. "Or are you going to start screaming about being late for something like that dreadful Bunny-boy."

"Huh?"

Tabitha was brought back to reality when Chevalier voiced his impatience, and tapped his foot. "You humans are truly a sight to behold. No wonder Hare-boy hates your kind so much. Tch. What am I saying? No wonder _I _hate your people." The cat man shook his head and shooed her off. "Well, if you're going to dilly-dally all day, then just get out of my sight so I don't have to look at you. It's a simple as that." His tail gave a rather firm tug on him and Chevalier looked down at it. "Yes Sasha…I know baby, you don't like them either. Always pulling and tugging you." He cooed.

"Excuse me." Tabitha began suddenly, not even bothering to give credit or attention to his insults to her. "But…"

Chevalier cocked his head to the side and cracked a few neck muscles sickeningly. "What? What now? I gave the damn ball back." He growled. "What do you want me to do? Meow like a fool in public?"

Good God, this man was quite abnormal. He was just so…mad. Not just crazy mad but angry mad too. "Actually…I wanted to ask you a question, if I may." Tabitha said softly, setting the ball down at her feet, watching Chevalier's eyes glance over it in desire to play again with the toy.

Chevalier's tail curled into a kind of 'belt' around his waist at her response before he inclined his head with interest. "Very well, I've been getting asked tons since I've been here. You gonna grill me too on the drugs that you believe I've taken? Are ya?" He wriggled in the spot, his hands pressing up to his mouth childishly and a rather eerie giggle erupted from his throat.

"Actually…I was going to ask, if you're fond of Alice in Wonderland." Tabitha informed, quite awkwardly.

Chevalier's gaze darkened and he bore his jagged teeth in defense. "_What did you say…?_"

--

Authoress Note: There ya have it. Another cliffhanger. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. Thanks for reading. I'll have Chapter 6 up soon.


	6. Tell me, are you fond of momewraths?

**Authoress Note: Wowee! A flood of reviews! Four reviews! Whoot! That's exciting. Thanks to all of those who reviewed the story. Here's chapter 6 just how you asked.**

**Special Thanks to Leki for thanking me for reviewing her story. **_**Amusing. **_**Please do check it out. She makes her Cheshie Kitty quite naughty. Though not quite naughty as Chevalier. Lol.**

**Kaitlyn, my good friend has always liked most of my writings and I appreciate her reviewing the story before hand before posting a review. Thank you!**

_Disclaimer 1__: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Caroll._

_However…I have my own character ownership too._

_Disclaimer 2__: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, The Heart of Darkness, the unnamed 'white heart', and Tabitha all belong to me_.

--

Tabitha's hands immediately froze up around her and she found herself backed into a wall with Chevalier uncomfortably close to her face. "I…"

Both of Chevalier's lanky arms slammed into the wall around her head to hold her in place while he bore his jagged teeth. "_What…did you say?"_

"…Alice in Wonderland…" She stammered.

"Don't say that again. That is what we in Topsy Turvy call a despicable excuse of literature. It's practically a blaspheming bible that claims to know all that there is to know. Wonderland? Ha." He sneered.

Tabitha was shaking. "Look, I-I'm sorry. I apologize; I didn't mean to offend you. I just thought to ask because-"

"Because you thought I 'liked' that blasted 'bible' or blasphemy? Ohh…no my dear. You are dead wrong." He hissed, watching the pathetic human turn her head away in fear.

"Um…I have to take the ball back to my friends, so please. Let me go." Tabitha whispered, her fingers shaking, one hand lifting to push a lock of hair out of her face.

Chevalier cocked his head to the side before he glanced at the ball on the ground. He slinked away from Tabitha briefly before picking the ball up with his tail and flicked it into her grasp. "Here. Take it. I've lost interest in it anyways." He scoffed; obviously he was as contemptuous as a feline as well.

Tabitha almost dropped the ball as soon as it was given back to her. "Ah!" Was that it? No, she couldn't let him just leave like that. But…he had threatened her, he had nearly tried to kill her, and he had those jagged teeth too.

"Wait." She called after him, watching him sway back and forth in his walk, much like a cat would when slinking off somewhere to do something mischievous. Tabitha stumbled away from the wall and skidded to a halt behind him. "Wait…Please."

She hadn't expected him to stop dead in his tracks before slowly turning on his heels to face her. "…Whaaaaat?" He meowed in a bored tone. "I'm hungry and preferably would like to hunt early without the cops catching me again. So what?"

Tabitha's gaze briefly scanned over Chevalier once more, to assess if he was just as real as he appeared. There was no mistaking that it was hard to declare what was real and what was fantasy anymore. Chevalier was no illusion, Tabitha wasn't on drugs, and she had to keep him from just running off.

"…I still owe you that can of fish don't I?"

His ears perked and he was in her personal space again. This time, he was grinning. "I'm listening…"

--

Sniffle. Harlequin Hatter glanced at her wristwatch with disdain as Etta gobbled her slice of carrot casserole down that had been made for her.

"Mmm…it's so moist. Want some?" Etta offered with a smile, holding up a piece of it on her forked, but she frowned when Harlequin shook her head in polite refusal.

"No thank you Etta. I have an appointment to keep with her majesty this evening." Harlequin muttered as her head slumped against the table and her eyes red and puffy from crying earlier.

Henrietta put her fork down and scowled. "You better not be going alone Harley, I can't let you."

"It's just a routine delivery of mercury Etta." Harlequin assured. "I don't understand why I didn't deliver it earlier, but I guess it's to please her royal-pain-in-the-ass. She wants it delivered on time. Not earlier and certainly not later."

"Harley…I cannot in good conscience let you go there by yourself. The jackals…and Chevalier's not following you there to cause his usual havoc." Henrietta insisted. "He's usually your bodyguard when you go there. So I have to perform that duty while he isn't here. Harley, you let me take care of those damn Jackals and Clovis and I'll guarantee that The Heart of Darkness will still believe us to be 'mad'. Isn't that the persona we are supposed to be giving off to her anyways?"

Harlequin shrugged, sipping on a cup of chamomile tea. "I suppose. But Chevalier does that job pretty well. He's the only one of us that really is quite mad." The Hatter and Hare looked at each other and reminisced humorously.

"You remember when you first brought him here?" Etta chuckled.

"Poor thing, nobody socialized him. Somebody didn't love him." Harlequin said softly, stirring her tea around.

"…You do." Henrietta declared, only to have Harlequin scowl at her. "What? It's tr-"

"NO! I do not have feelings for Chevalier. He's my friend and nothing more."

"Harley, how much longer are you going to keep lying to yourself? You may hate to admit it but you've known him for the past several years of your life. It's obvious, you love him in some aspect."

Harlequin threw her saucer at Henrietta, who fiercely shattered it with shut a punch of her fist. Shards of ceramic flew everywhere before finally Henrietta slid her chair out behind her. "…I don't care if you love him Harlequin. I'm just saying…that's what I think. Would you think less of me as your best friend if I didn't tell you what I thought?"

Harlequin pretended to ignore Etta's question before finally mumbling. "No…because that would be wrong of me."

"Then say you love him Harlequin. Just tell me and no one else. You don't have to tell him." Henrietta pleaded. "Just…please." The Hare lass bit her lip before Harlequin bowed her head on the table.

"Piss off."

"Ugh! You're so stubborn!"

--

Tabitha had to be careful when ushering Chevalier out in public. He was a sight to behold and if he had mentioned before about being arrested, then she certainly didn't want to be caught dead with him if the cops were looking for an escaped psycho with cat ears and a tail. They'd lock her up for sure…maybe even with him. That would be a horrible thing to endure.

Just looking at Chevalier gave Tabitha chills. He was slinky, sleek, lanky, and over all just, well, he was feline all over. His behavior, his stance, and even his teeth were eerie. So all she could do was hope and pray he had no other unspeakable thoughts in mind. Tabitha was grateful that he was easily amused when she had given back the soccer ball to play with until it was rightfully returned.

"Can I count on you to not cause any trouble if we return this ball to its proper owners?" Tabitha asked warily, glancing at Chevalier as he juggled the ball in his hands with a look he gave her that said: 'Absolutely not'.

"Aha." He scoffed, tossing the ball to his tail and preceded to play a game of catch with it. "Don't count on it. I detest rules, I hate laws, and to top it all off Isaac Newton ain't got nothing on me." He said with a cocky attitude before finally giving the ball back to her. "But if these little pissants wanted it back so much…Why did they send you to get it?" He asked, his tail swishing lazily before he slinked behind her to watch the ball with his chardonnay gaze again. "Nyeow." He mewed out of playful nature.

Tabitha lifted the ball above her head away from him, her brow twitching in annoyance. "Well…I guess…because I'm just like that. I'm a sucker for cute smiles."

"You have boyfriends?" He asked, brow cocking. "Oooh…That's quite _naught-ay._"He chuckled.

"They're just a bunch of guys I know. I'm not in a relationship with _any _of them, and that's _none of your business._" Tabitha snapped.

Chevalier's tail swished upwards and snatched the ball back from her to play with the ball again. "Well…That's fine with me." He said, letting the ball roll across his neck, down his shoulder, and finally into his hand. "I don't care to know your business." He sneered, tossing the ball up and then playing with it in that hackie-sack fashion again. "Nyahaha!"

"Good, I don't want to tell you."

"Fine."

"Fine then."

"Okay."

"Yeah." Chevalier spun the ball on his index finger with boredom then. "So…Does 'Little Miss Wonderland' have a name?" He asked, not paying any real attention to her. "Hm."

"Tabitha." She responded, curtly.

Chevalier's ears perked. "Tabitha? _Tabitha? _A Litle Tabby Cat? Ooh! I can be Cheshie Cat and you can be Tabby Cat! How about it?" He asked with a titter "Sounds fun right?"

"I don't think so." Tabitha shook her head. "Only my friends can call my Tabby."

"Do you let those…_boys_ call you 'Tabby'?" He asked, tossing the ball back to her.

"I told you, that's none of your business." She had opened her mouth to snap a second phrase at him before a sharp yell came in their direction.

"**Tabby! Did you get the ball yet?" **

Great. That was fricking perfect. The grin that Chevalier was giving her didn't help either. "Don't say anything." She growled. "Just don't."

"Or what?" Chevalier hissed, now standing much taller than her. "You'll shoo me away? You'll call the pound? You'll call the cops? _Do your worst_…" He bore his teeth again before Tabitha was passing the ball to him, and Chevalier had caught it and was playing with it again. "Nyahaha!"

"Well, you're certainly easy to please."

"I am…" He purred. "I am indeed." "And the momewraths are singing…shovelnoses weaving, and Jabbs Wocker is scheming…" Chevalier began cooing musically.

Damn it! He even sang like the Cheshire cat in the Alice in Wonderland movie, why was he torturing her with these games? "All right then, I've told you my name. What's yours Mister Pussy Cat?" She asked, tapping her foot impatiently.

He stopped rolling around with the ball long enough to lie on his back and stare up at her, his grin slowly spilling out onto his features. "Chevalier."

"Chevalier? Is that French?"

"Oui Mademoiselle. It is." He responded. "I speak the language fluently. How I don't know, I just know I do."

"**Tabby! The ball!"**

They were calling her again. It was Sam shouting his aggravation this time as they caught sight of the strapping young men coming their way. "Jeez Tabby! What took you so long?"

Chevalier tossed the ball back to her before rising to his feet again. "This them?"

"Shh." Tabby waved her hand at him before returning the ball to the boys. "Sorry guys. I made a new friend. Well…acquaintance actually. I'm showing him around town."

Chevalier's tail flicked and his brow cocked at the four lads in a quirky manner before he shook his head. "Tsk. Tsk. Why didn't you tell me they were pumping with hormones? They stink to high heaven." He whispered in her ear in disgust.

"So, guys! Say hello to Chevalier. Chevalier, say hello to the guys."

"'Sup?"

"Yo."

"Hey."

"Yeah…Hi I guess."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Hi." Chevalier waved his hand in disapproval. "I understand. I'm funny looking."

The other guys looked between each other before snickering at Chevalier. "Tch. Where'd you find this guy Tabby? Behind a dumpster?"

"Aw. Damn. He smells like a dumpster."

"What are you queer?"

"No, but I bet you all are." Chevalier rolled his eyes. An idea suddenly came to mind. "Yessss….That's it. There's only one reason you're all around each other. It's not to attract the attention of the young lady it's to attract the attention of your male companions around you. Oh? Don't believe me, I bet you're all just yearning to lick the sweat off each others' bodies."

"What'd you say?!" One of the young men snapped, clenching his fist at Chevalier.

"Come on! Come at me! I dare you!" Chevalier snarled, his teeth bearing in challenge before Tabitha stepped between them.

"That's enough!" She shouted, putting her hand up in front of her to stop the young men from advancing upon each other. Who knew what Chevalier could do? Hell. She didn't know _how _he could do it either. "Look, you guys got off on the wrong foot. Since Chevalier was rude to instigate…" She glanced at the cat man with a frown.

"Please apologize." She ordered.

"Absolutely the hell not!" Chevalier snapped. "I refuse to apologize to a bunch of…of…uncivilized ingrates." He pointed out and meowed in protest. "Nooo. I won't do it. I won't do it. Noooooo."

"Fine. You won't get that lunch I promised you then." Tabitha shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Ohh…Coddle pot it all to puss spewing effing hell." Chevalier hissed. "Fine. I'm sorry…"

"And you boys," She pointed at the strapping young men who were scowling at Chevalier as the fabric on his sweater arched at his back and he hissed at them from behind Tabitha. Her head jerked around to glare at the cat man before he stuck his tongue out at her childishly.

"Will apologize for responding with threats." She ordered.

"Sure Tabby. We'll apologize. After he admits he's the queer one and not us."

"…Guys."

"'Kay fine. We're sorry. Happy?"

"Yes."

"No…Now get the hell away from me." Chevalier pawed at thin air with his hands in a 'shoo-shoo' manner.

They ignored him and simply went about their business as they left the two alone. Tabitha sighed in relief. Thanking God that things hadn't gotten ugly. "Are you crazy?! You could have been killed." She hissed at him, watching as Chevalier clicked his tongue in a 'tsking' fashion.

"Pfft. I'm sure, Miss Tabby Cat. Haven't you gotten it through you're head that I'm not exactly human?" He cracked his knuckles and flicked his tail. "By the way, that 9 lives theory only applies to yours truly." He grinned.

"Look do you want that fish I was talking about or not?" Tabitha rolled her eyes, tapping her foot impatiently.

Chevalier stepped beside her and held his arm out as if to escort the young lady all 'gentleman-like'. "Shall we Miss Tabby Cat?"

Damn it. It was catching onto her because she obviously didn't seem pleased with the new nickname he gave her. "Very well. Monsieur Chevalier." They linked arms and were off.

"So, tell me Miss Tabby, are you fond of _momewraths_?"

'_Why me?'_

--

**Authoress Note: And that's a wrap for Chapter 6. Hope to see you in Chapter 7. Enjoy. Reviews are always lovely. Catnip will be accepted as a substitute for Chevalier's wonderful liking of it.**

**Chevalier: (rolling around with the soccer ball he stole from Chapter 6) Hee...**

**Please hurry. I don't know how long that ball will survive 'til Chapter 7.**


	7. Quite Frankly, it smells like Piss

**Authoress Note: Wow…One Review. Again. That's fascinating…Well people, I apologize for not updating sooner, but I was recently barred from the computer due to failing Government class grades. **

**Thanks to those who reviewed anyways. Enjoy Chapter 7.**

_Disclaimer 1__: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Caroll._

_However…I have my own character ownership too._

_Disclaimer 2__: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, The Heart of Darkness, the unnamed 'white heart', and Tabitha all belong to me_.

--

"Momewraths?" She didn't understand the concept of the little furry creatures that Chevalier was talking about. "The little dusting creatures?"

Their arms were still linked together, awkwardly linked mind you. Chevalier kept twisting and turning his arm this way and that because he was twitchy and fidgety. Before he jerked her forward with a growl. "You're thinking along the lines of that damn book again. Stop it, I say." He hissed, his neck cricking in the process to get the kinks out of it.

Tabitha tried hard not to stare at his ridiculous movements and freaky little twitches but it was creeping her out. Seriously, this guy would probably hurt her if he wanted to. Though right now Chevalier seemed to be pretty content. "Momewraths aren't like the ones in your silly little fairytale. Of course they happen to be cute, fuzzy, and look like little hairy balls of soot, but they're quite vicious if you intentionally step on them." Tabitha listened before Chevalier stopped short and let go of her arm to have her observe more closely.

He opened one of his sleeved and reached into it to pull out a chirping little black ball with blinking white eyes staring up at him. "Cheeeeee…." In the confines of his sweater, Chevalier's clothing was infested with momewraths.

Tabitha's mouth opened slightly and she stared at the tiny creature in his hand. "Ohhhhh! Hello precious!" Chevalier cooed in delight as he watched the tiny creature scurry around in his hands. "They're mostly quite harmless, by themselves. But in large groups they tend to be quite protective of each other if they feel threatened. Sure, they understand if you didn't mean to step on them but if you do it deliberately because you're a little shit. Well…let's just say you die a most unpleasant death." His golden eyes gleamed maliciously.

Holding out the sooty puffball to Tabitha. "Wanna pet him?"

She continued to gaze at the cheerfully pleasant creature. "You own him?"

"And his 100 brothers and sisters. They live on me you see…in my clothes." Chevalier explained in detail. "They're like fleas, only they don't itch and they're quite tame. It's like I have my own personal little heat generators."

Her hand tentatively reached out to pat the tiny thing on its head before nuzzling against her fingers.

Tabitha danced her fingers over the momewrath's little head before pulling her hand away. How could something so small be so vicious? Then the thought of yappy little Chihuahuas came to her head. Oh, yeah. That's right. Big things come in small packages. "So…" She trailed off staring at the chirping little ball of hair. "What exactly is it that makes them so vicious?"

Chevalier's gaze lifted up from the momewrath in his hand before he stared seriously at Tabitha. "Step on them intentionally…and they'll eat you alive. Flesh and all. Though meat isn't they're natural diet. It's just what their instinct tells them to do. Defense mechanism."

The momewrath scurried back into Chevalier's sleeve and he suddenly began squirming around in the spot he was standing in. There were several little lumps that began moving beneath his clothing and he was laughing uncontrollably because the 100 other little critters within his sweater were beginning to tickle him. "Eeeeeheeeheheeee! Stop, no stop it! I can't take it. Ahahaa! KNOCK IT OFF!?" He snarled at his moving sweater before the lumps ceased their movements and Chevalier was well composed again. "Let's keep it together now fellas. You don't want to be deep fried and smothered in chocolate."

Tabitha cocked her head to the side quizzically before shaking her head. "Listen, if you don't want the fish anymore I'm just going to go home then. So I suppose I'll see you around." Great, the only possible living proof of a Lewis Caroll inspiration is a regular nut job that has no other interest than getting off topic. This was wonderful. It might as well been better just to leave him to his own devices. But of course, Tabitha didn't get to take a step forward before his tail had curled around her waist and pulled her back towards him out of annoyance.

"And just where do you think you are going mademoiselle? You still owe me that fish you were talking about earlier. Don't think I'm that stupid, I have a superb memory." He clicked his teeth with his pupils narrowed in that feline-like fashion before he slinked behind Tabitha and scooted her forward. "Please my dear lady, lead the way. Or I may have grounds to steal that peculiarly interested hat perched atop your head." Chevalier said in reference to her beanie.

Tabitha placed her hands over her head in concern. "Don't touch that. It's mine."

--

The Hatter house was a relatively warm and cheerful place to go to for a nice piping cup of tea. In the evenings though, Reginald Rabbit found it terrifying to approach because Chevalier always traipsed around outside and along the rooftop in the middle of the night just to cause some ruckus in Hexavier's existence. Chevalier and Hexavier Hatter had always been on mutual terms when it came to each other. In exchange for pestering Halviere, Chevalier was granted delicious caviar for a snack. He did enjoy the occasional tilapia that Hexavier would cook up to in case he found that swordfish was scarce. Reginald wasn't spared from Chevalier's torture though even when Hexavier ordered Chevalier to leave 'bunny-boy' alone.

Reginald glanced at the little pocket watch attached to the glittering golden chain fastened to his collar. "It's 8:18. Master Hatter said that he'd be here by 8:00 I always get so frustrated when he's tardy and it bothers me when he's too early." Mr. Rabbit complained to himself. The Rabbits were a generally large family; even if they didn't count the Hares as distant cousins they were still quite a large family. Reginald was a middle child, considering he had 12 siblings: 6 sisters and 6 brothers.

He was considered the most awkward of his family and his extremely hyperactive sisters often poked fun at him because they assumed he was homosexual due to his OCD and squeaky voice. Much to the dismay of his high maintenance mother, he was always asked when he was going to settle down and give his mother and father grandchildren at some point, which got annoying after a while and Reginald just finally snapped at Louisa-Claire Rabbit, his mother, when he was asked once more the last time he had visited to have dinner with the family.

-

'_Carrot casserole? Again? Does that Mad Hatter woman think you're some kind of animal Reggie-dear?' His mother was poking at the steam coming off the delicious dish that Madame Hatter had sent home with him that day in regards to being a courteous host to their son._

_Reginald scratched the back of his head nervously as his mother distastefully ate it. 'It's too moist.'_

'_It's supposed to be moist mother. The Hatters have always made their food that way. In cases such as casserole. The others like it: even father does.' Reginald tried to assure. He watched as the younger siblings devoured the delectable carroty goodness that was the casserole, the middle children cheerfully ate, and the elder children just ate what was in front of them without complaints. His father seemed pleased with the dinner because he would confide aloud and quite often that Louisa-Claire Rabbit was a terrible cook._

'_Well, she needs to try a new cooking tactic. And tell your cousin Henrietta to stop helping her make it. It's bad enough she stays there to and cooks.' His mother nagged._

_Bless her bitching little heart. Reginald rolled his eyes, making it look like he was fiddling with his watch instead of silently judging his mother. 'Well, mother. Henrietta's been Madame Hatter's best friend since they were children and I don't think-'_

'_So what?' Mrs. Rabbit cut him off. 'You grew up with her too! There's no reason why you can't be here best friend. You could have been married to that pretty girl and made her family have some normalcy in it, but noooooo. You have to insist on being single or until you, God forbid, obtain a…' Louisa-Claire Rabbit shuddered before ending her sentence. 'Boyfriend.'_

_His pupils dilated and Reginald grit his teeth before he flipped his mother's plate over and the carrot casserole flopped into her lap. 'ENOUGH!' He shouted._

_The calm before the storm was when his siblings stopped eating and looked up at him. His father, silent as Reginald stood to his feet and scowled at his mother, his glasses fogging up. 'Wh-What did you say?' His mother quivered in anger._

'_You heard me mother, I am so sick…so tired, of you ragging upon me all the time. I get enough of it from Henrietta. I can tolerate her berating me because it's just how she is…but you…You will not sit here and say degrading things about her or Madame Hatter. How dare you say such things about her? You have no right mother, I don't care if you gave birth to me, raised me, or-or-or breast fed me, but I'll be damned if-if you keep telling me the same things over and over again. Trying to bash this information into my skull. I won't stand for it.'_

_Louisa-Claire Rabbit stared at her son with a quivering lip. 'Reggie, you-'_

'_NO MOTHER. I AM NOT GAY!' He snarled. 'It's been a lovely visit, but I'm afraid I've overstayed my welcome.' That said, Reginald threw his napkin onto the table and stormed out the door._

_-_

Hexavier, who shook his shoulder, brought Reginald out of his unpleasant recollection. "Reginald."

Mister Rabbit shook his head rapidly before gazing at Hexavier. "Oh. Master Hatter, I'm sorry. I was day dreaming again."

"Is that part of your problem too or does that happen often?" Hexavier asked.

"It just happens. Non-OCD habit. Strangely." Reginald assured, rubbing his chin curiously. "Any ways, you said you'd brewed something up?"

Hexavier's hat, Alverace, purred contently on the top of his head as Reginald asked about the concoction they had brewed. "Raaahhhh."

"Alverace doesn't want me taking credit for his efforts in this. Hopefully you won't mind the bitter taste of this herbal coffee." Hexavier held out a wrapped up mug to Reginald. "I apologize for it being an unpleasant color. That's just how it always turns out."

Reginald stared at the fogged up plastic wrap covering the teal mug. "Oh. Well, I'm sure you did your best Master Hatter." His ears flopped down by the sides of his head as he continued to gaze at the contents. He thought he saw a heat bubble pop. "Uh. Would you like me to come inside and drink it? Or take it home with me?"

"It's better that you take it home and reheat it. I'm sure adding water to it will dilute the color and make it easier to taste. Not that it will help much, but hopefully you'll understand what I mean." Hexavier had dark circles under his eyes as he looked back at Reginald.

Reginald gripped his mug tightly and sucked a breath of air in. "Master Hatter…" He called.

Hexavier's back was to him, but he had Alverace, his hat, gripped in his spindly fingers. "Hm?"

"You're not looking well, please. For Madame's sake. Go see Mr. Pillar. If not a doctor, than him at least." Reginald whispered. "I'm starting to draw concern."

"Yeah. Maybe. If he feels I'm worthy enough to treat." Hexavier scoffed.

"Tell him I sent you, and if he doesn't treat you. His Eucalyptus candies will no longer be supplied." He approached Hexavier again and took out a small yellow pad of paper and wrote on it. "Here, this is…" His ball point pen moved rapidly before he ripped the paper off and handed it to Hexavier. "A written note, ordering him to treat you. Tell him, I'll consider it a favored owed to me if he helps you."

"Ah, such a nervous wreck, but a clever bargainer." Hexavier chuckled. "My thanks. Hey." Hexavier called before Reginald could turn away.

"…Yes Master Hatter?"

"Your mother sent an unpleasant letter to me about you, a month ago. I forgot to tell you. Then last week, your father sent a letter regarding the same letter written by your mother. So, your father wants to know…When you going to ask my sister to marry you?" Hexavier chuckled.

Reginald's cheeks turned a bright shade of beet. "Uh…well…I guess whenever I get the courage to tell her my loyalty to her runs deeper than it should."

"Well, your father says that he's proud of you for telling your mother, in his words, to 'shut the fuck up'."

"…If you see him, Master Hatter…tell him that it was my pleasure."

--

On a corner table, a shiny ruby red box was placed strategically the way many before it had been placed so that dainty little fingers could grasp the delicious treats within it. They were never out of reach, they were never hard to pick up, and it was never a challenge getting them into the mouth that they journeyed to. The boxes were always heart-shaped and always wrapped with red paper. Any other colors in the rainbow were unacceptable and if a mistake was made, the one who made the mistake met a grisly end in the dungeon of Jackals before heading off to either the axe or the guillotine.

Full, rosy, lips suckled on a tasty chocolate bonbon without much thought before she was disrupted from her leisurely lounge on her ornately carved throne. She bit into the chocolate unintentionally, while her gaze settled on the one who had broken her concentration on the snack in her mouth. Her royal highness swallowed the candy before her steely blue eyes glowered at the secretary bowing in front of her for the longest period of time. "Rise, fool." She sighed in irritation. "I was just having a lovely time with my bonbons when you interrupted me. What do you want?" She sneered.

"Your Majesty," The secretary of Black Hearts stammered. "I've just received word from the Queen of Spades that you have yet to repay what you owe to her for your latest expenses added to the dungeons. Your sister is becoming quite irate with the fact you have failed to comply with her order and that you must make the payment by the end of this month or-"

The scroll was ripped out of his hand and Her Royal Highness was in his face, her hands rattling him by the throat. "My sister is only pressuring me to do this because she knows how badly she wishes to get rid of me from my throne. I tell you, I will not have her harass me or I shall see to it personally her own young children are sent to the dungeons where they shall live, be tortured, and die at the hands of the Jackals before their mangled and decrepit bodies shall be hacked up at the guillotine. Now, release this message I send to her immediately or I'll have your head served at the next Cricket tournament!" She screeched.

Without another word from the message sent, the little secretary was running for his life, while her royal-pain-in-the ass settled herself back onto her seat. Fixing her sumptuous lace skirts on her dress into place, The Heart of Darkness smiled in content to herself while continuing to eat her bonbons. "Hmph. Sister Spades. Telling me what to do? Ha! She forgets who rules this land. I can take everything she has."

She suckled on another chocolate treat before another secretary approached. Her finger curled into her wavy locks of maroon hair. "Your Royal Majesty, your shipment of mercury has arrived. Madame Hatter has delivered it herself personally."

Curled lashes fluttered open in excitement before she swallowed her next bonbon eagerly. "Ooh! All ready! I wasn't expecting it until tomorrow. Then again, the Mad Hatters always deliver it early." She scoffed. "Hm. Send her and her flea-bitten cat in. I'm sure she brought him along."

"Not this time, your highness. Mistress Hare has accompanied her. The Cat is nowhere in sight."

She sat up. "No Cat? That's not like her."

" Of course he could be following and we would not know it."

"I'm aware of that…" The Heart of Darkness hissed. "But, while I'm still in a pleasant mood….send them in."

The double doors to the throne room opened and a rather large cart was rolled in with at least 50 barrels tied down to it, with Harlequin Hatter strolling in front. Henrietta had reeled it in next to her dear friend with incredible strength. When they stopped the cart, Harlequin and Henrietta stood side by side before bowing reluctantly to the Queen.

"Your Majesty." Harlequin said.

"Highness." Henrietta said through gritted teeth, twitching all the while.

The youthful Queen cocked a brow and stepped down from her throne to begin examining the barrels one by one. "You know, I was recently in a bad mood because my sister was pestering me with petty payment notices, but you have just made my day Miss Hatter. Miss Hare."

"It's a pleasure." Henrietta grit her teeth. "Really. We're soooo….pleased to have been of help."

"Hee hee! Well, really, you shouldn't have brought it this early. I was expecting you by tomorrow, like I usually have for the past years, but better early than on the exact day." Her Highness giggled, clapping with giddy laughter at the delivery. "I'm told that Mister Kitty Cat isn't here with you. Why is that?"

"Bath day." Henrietta lied. "We're trying to cure his momewrath problem. They just don't like to leave him. He's quite an unruly creature to handle."

"He's a doll." Harlequin insisted. "Especially when he purrs. Oh, your Majesty, you don't know what you gave up."

"I'm sure, you still don't know what you took off my hands. He was a nuisance, and even if we took him to the guillotine his head would just reattach itself anyways." The Queen waved the matter off quickly. "Well, it's been a pleasure doing business with you ladies, as always."

Madame Hatter and Mistress Hare bowed in reluctance again before turning away. "You'll call again when you need more for your army Your Majesty." Harlequin said.

"Oh, you know I shall…" She was cooing in delight at the mahogany barrels. "Oh! Miss Hatter!" Her Majesty called after her, peeking out from behind the cart. "You ah, will tell that brother of yours to come see me some time. He's quite the Charmer." She waved her fingers in a flirtatious manner.

Harlequin twitched in disgust before chuckling, her brow twitching. "Of course…You take care now." She murmured.

-

When the Hatter and Hare women had left the Card Castle, Harlequin began screaming in a wretched manner on the way back in the little wagon they drove. Etta became annoyed with it after a while and finally slapped some sense back into Harlequin before arriving back to the Hatter House. "Harley! Your brother's not seeing her. I promise. Otherwise-"

"Then why is he sick all the time?!" Harlequin snapped. "Why Etta?! Why won't he tell me where he goes?! Why does he never go to the doctor?! Why does he look like he's been tortured?!" Harlequin broke down sobbing into Henrietta's arms. "No, no, no! How dare she touch my own flesh and blood! Nooo!" Harlequin sobbed as Henrietta tried to sooth the curly haired Hatter girl.

"Harley, no, Harley stop."

"It's my brother….My brother! My brother!"

Etta found that Harlequin had been brave to go to the Card Castle without Chevalier. Chevalier usually caused enough mayhem to keep the Heart of Darkness from speaking, but since he wasn't around…Harley had no choice but to endure conversation. The poor girl. The Queen just knew where to hurt her the most.

"Don't cry Harley…Hexavier would never hurt you." Henrietta said softly, stroking Harlequin's hair.

--

When Reginald returned home to Delmont, he found the Philosopher sitting upright and clearly wide-awake. Obviously something had disturbed him and he was not willing to fall back asleep, no matter how much his brain was telling him to. "Mister Rabbit."

"Yes Mister Mouse?" Reginald answered.

"I need a cup of your famous Irish coffee. Stat. Please and Thank you." Delmont insisted, quickly. He was staring down at Chevalier's files from when he had been imprisoned by the Heart of Darkness. "…Madame Hatter has you sorting his old criminal and imprisonment records?" Delmont asked, as Reginald took the plastic wrap off the coffee mug that Hexavier had given him and placed it in the microwave while he brewed a pot of coffee and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

"Yes. She is. Though why now, I'm not quite sure myself." Reginald tapped his fingers against the countertop as the microwave 'dinged' when it was finished reheating the concoction Hexavier had made. "Del. Do you…like yourself?"

"I'm contently fluffy." Delmont patted his tummy with a lazy grin. "Of course I like myself."

"Oh. Well…I was just thinking mindlessly to myself and…just thought to ask."

"Why, you don't like yourself, Mr. Rabbit?" Delmont asked as the coffee pot finished filling and the whiskey was mixed into it. Reginald handed the cup to him and Delmont drank deeply. "Hnn…That's awfully strong. You might want to dial it down a notch." The Philosopher advised.

"Henrietta got a hangover the last time I made her some. Stubborn woman." He shook his head, pulling out the teal mug from the microwave and putting a bit of water into it from the spicket. The herbal substance bubbled in the mug and he sat across from Delmont. "Well, let's see if what Master Hatter made works." He twitched, before he held up his mug and he and Delmont offered cheers to each other before they drank.

Reginald doubled over in disgust and fell out of his chair. "YEEEEEUCK!"

Delmont peered into the cup and sniffed it curiously. "Hm. Why, I do believe this smells like piss."

-

**Authoress Note: Did you all enjoy meeting her Royal-Pain-In-The-Ass? Doesn't seem very scary yet, does he? She will much sooner than you think. We shall be seeing alot more of her. Hope you all enjoyed ****Chapter 7. Tune in for the next installment of 9 Lives to Live.**

**Read and review. Oh and a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.**


	8. Reginald gains a Backbone

Authoress Note: Hi guys! Wow, I know it's been a long time. The story even feels like it's been on hiatus for a while. I'm sorry. I got caught up with school that I didn't have time to write anymore for the story. Well, here's your chance to see Chapter 8 guys! Whoot!

Reviewer Acknowledgements, something I haven't done recently with this story so I'll begin with it now. Yay!

James Birdsong: One who's been with the story from the beginning, thanks for egging me on to continue the story!

vlasadiusdraculasbride312: A great fan of Chevalier! Yay! You know, he's my favorite too. I can't help it, but I find his whole personality just sexy. I can't help it. I know it's my own character, but jut the thought of him makes me love him even more. Only I know about the deep dark secrets he has. Thanks.

xXLieselotteXx: Thank you for encouraging me on this next chapter. I appreciate the support. I think I may need it lately.

HanaBri: Another Chevalier fan! Yay! I'll be sure to keep up on his character for you.

Ao Kudo:Without help from encouraging fans like you I wouldn't be able to continue this story. Thanks.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter and other chapters before.

Enjoy Chapter 8.

_Disclaimer 1__: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Caroll._

_However…I have my own character ownership too._

_Disclaimer 2__: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, The Heart of Darkness, the unnamed 'white heart', and Tabitha all belong to me_.

--

Tabitha was quite fascinated with the way he slinked and snooped his way around her house. It was a fairly large little row house with an expensive outlook to it. Her father was a neurosurgeon while her mother was an editor for a local magazine. It felt like she had it made, but Tabitha quite simply wished she lived a quainter lifestyle. As soon as they had entered her home, Chevalier went to work sniffing around cautiously. His ears were pinned back against his head in an awkward looking fashion (the other fashion being when his ears were against his head in anger). He was poking at various objects that he'd seen in Madame Hatter's own humble abode, but he felt the normalcy of the place bother him.

The toaster was a mysterious object to him that Madame Hatter had yet to show him. Chevalier nudged it slightly before Tabitha picked it up. "Ah….Why don't we get you that tune and sardines now?" She suggested.

Chevalier's ears popped back up into their usual position and he retained his former behavior. "Oh. Yes, please. I've been waiting all day."

"Have a seat at the kitchen table, I'll get them for you right away." She turned her back towards the fridge and opened it to pull out a jug of milk and a carton of cream. "Which do you prefer more?"

Chevalier's tail swished back and forth while he studied the two milk products and he frowned. "Does it matter? Milk and Cream are the same thing."

"Maybe where you're from they are, but not here." Tabitha explained with a shrug.

"Mix 'em together. I don't care. Half and Half." Chevalier rolled his eyes. "Does it matter?" He asked.

"It does if you want it, can you try to make a little more sense please? It's kind of hard to understand you." Tabitha tried to be polite to him about his behavior. Unfortunately, she made him angry…again.

"Make sense? Make sense?! What the hell kind of request is that?" He snapped. "Just because I'm a 'mad' creature doesn't mean that I'm not a man that can't make sense." Chevalier grit his teeth, his ears pinned back against his head.

"I'm sorry…I…didn't mean to upset you-"

"That's what Bunny-boy says sometimes too." Chevalier purred, the rumbling sound became a foreboding noise at this point, before Tabitha suddenly held the cup filled with both cream and milk. Her hand was shaking as she gave it to him.

Chevalier's behavior changed then and he took the cup from her with a smile. "Why, thank you Miss Tabby Cat."

"Would you prefer a sauce instead of a cup?" She offered, her heart could have jumped into her throat if he got angry again. His whole body language was unreadable and he acted like a ticking time bomb ready to go off.

"Hmph. I may be a cat but I'm not an animal." He snorted, taking the cup up to his lips and drinking the liquid substance down slowly. It had been a while since he'd last consumed anything delectable and milk and cream was no exception. Setting the cup down, he licked his lips and glanced at Tabitha. "How about that tuna and sardines you promised me?"

"If I may ask, would you like it in the can or on a plate?" Tabitha had her back to him while she was in the fridge moving things around to find the food she'd promised him. When she had brought the cans out she found him crouched on her table with a hungry look on his face. "Ah!" She gasped, almost dropping the cans. "Please, not on the table. I don't want you to fall and hurt yourself."

"I'm not very susceptible to pain." Chevalier's response was a sneer at her before snatching the cans from her to open. He had a hard time though and tried to gnaw on the cans like the beast he was.

"I could…open those for you. If you'd like." Tabitha held her hand out tentatively in patience for him to hand them back.

Chevalier reluctantly gave the cans back and watched as Tabitha demonstrated lifting up special tabs found on the tops of the cans and pulling them back to reveal the treats within. He inhaled the scent of each fish deeply before he crawled back in the chair he'd been in.

"Mmm…"

"I'll get you a fork."

--

Several hours had passed and Reginald sat up after ingesting what Hexavier Hatter had given him. "Ugh…What happened?" He asked no one in particular.

Delmont was standing above him with the mug of green muck in his hand. "You drank this piss wash and passed out." He explained, holding the mug away from him.

"Piss wash? What?" Reginald asked, stumbling to his feet

"Yes, this. It smells like piss." Delmont pointed out. "Did you even smell if before you drank it?" The philosopher rolled his sleepy little eyes and set the mug on the table.

"It did? I-I mean it does?" He stammered, looking into the cup before he pulled back after inhaling the scent of it. "Whoa! What is that stench?!"

"Exactly. Piss." Delmont answered simply, shrugging. "Whatever Master Hatter gave you it seems to have been mixed with some form of urinary liquid. I believe he played a rather poor joke on you Reginald old friend."

"…and I drank it?" Reginald looked rather queasy. "Oh God help me…" He whimpered, dashing for the kitchen sink before he began retching into it.

Delmont turned his attention back to the cup before he took it towards the sink where Reginald was possibly puking out whatever he had ingested from Master Hatter. Delmont turned the faucet on to rinse the sink out before he emptied the contents of the cup out and poured it down the drain. "What possessed you to call Master Hatter, Reginald?"

"…I thought Madame Hatter was home."

"She went to deliver the mercury to her majesty." Delmont informed. "With Henrietta."

Reginald pulled away from the sink. "Oh no! Madame! I have to go Del, I must see her at once about Chevalier's files!" He exclaimed, running towards the table to pull the Chevalier's documents all together and run for the door.

"Hey, Reginald!" Delmont called after him, standing with the mug still in his hands.

"Hm?" With his hand on the door, Reginald turned his head to look at Delmont with a frown.

"You're not fidgeting today."

Delmont was right. Reginald wasn't fidgeting. In fact he wasn't even twitching in any way at all. "Oh my…You're right."

"I still think that you shouldn't have drank what Master Hatter gave you though." Delmont advised.

"Well, I might not next time, but it worked! It really worked! Haha! Oh, I must tell Madame Hatter about this. I'll see you later Del! Bye!"

The door closed, and Delmont looked down into the cup with a disgusted look on his tired face. "…Still smells like piss."

--

Upon returning to the Hatter house, Etta and Harlequin were met with a peculiar sight of Hexavier setting up tea at the table in the backyard. What was even stranger to see was Halviere in the same vicinity with him. Henrietta scowled at her brother as he stood off to the side while Hexavier did all of the work. "You're both here…Something's wrong."

Halviere glanced at his younger sister and shook his head. "No, really? You hadn't noticed?" His voice almost sneered while Henrietta noticed his clear displeasure of being here.

"I'll give you something to notice…" She growled, adjusting her fedora hat with clear attitude. "You will do well to behave yourself brother. I won't tolerate rudeness or a brawl in Harlequin's presence. If Hexavier beats you up, I'll help him."

"My own sister…a traitor to her own brother." Halviere taunted. "You really should have been born a Hatter instead if you have that much dislike of me."

"I'm warning you brother, I want things civil and pleasant. Otherwise you'll be spending another night hungry." Henrietta pointed her finger at him.

Halviere slapped it away. "Don't be snide, Henrietta. I'm your elder, you'll do well to show me the same respect I show you."

"Excuse me, Mister Hare." Harlequin butted in suddenly, "Would you like to sit down and have some tea with us? I understand that we have some tension in the area, but there's no reason you shouldn't be able to have tea with us." She glanced at Henrietta, whose face was livid.

"…I don't like tea Miss Hatter." Halviere answered coldly.

"A cup of coffee then?" Harlequin offered instead.

Halviere was not going to be subject to Harlquin Hatter's behavior, but what choice did he have if she'd offered him coffee. Despite the fact that his sister was being rude and nasty to him, Harlequin Hatter was not. He despised the Hatters and all of their…Hatter-ness, but Harlequin had never said anything unkind to him since he had known her. It must have been a trick of some sort she was pulling or she wouldn't be trying so hard to have him stay.

"…I suppose."

After he had answered, Harlequin Hatter gestured to any seat for him to take. "You may sit anywhere you like, Mister Hare."

Reginald suddenly burst through the yard gate immediately. "Madame! Madame!"

"Oh, great. You." Halviere grumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"Proposing to my sister?" Hexavier mumbled under his breath, hoping that Reginald wasn't really planning on asking Harlequin to marry him. Then he'd have to try and poison the poor Rabbit boy next time.

"I have Chevalier's files all sorted together for you. Also, I think I'm cured of my OCD!" Reginald exclaimed excitedly, handing Harlequin the documents on Chevalier.

Harlequin took them and filtered through the papers briefly before looking up at Reginald with her brow cocked suspiciously. "Cured? How?"

"Your brother, he gave me something last night to-" Harlequin cut him off before shooting a look at Hexavier, who had been making danger signals to Reginald behind her back. "Brother…what did you do last night while I was gone?"

"Ah…" Hexavier trailed off.

"You aren't a licensed alchemist. You cannot perform medicinal practices or medicines without a license! Do you realize that The Heart of Darkness can have your head for that?!" She snarled, picking up a saucer and chucking it at Hexavier's head.

Hexavier ducked, with Alverace his hat squeaking with fear. "Damn it Harlequin! He called looking for you-"

"How could you?!" She cried, suddenly standing in front of Reginald protectively. "You probably could have killed him!"

"Why would I want to kill Reginald?" Hexavier huffed. "I don't think he's worth killing, sniveling cowardly, bunnies are better for experiments than killing."

Reginald gave Hexavier a rather serious look before he stepped forward. "Is that what you think I am…Master Hatter?" He asked seriously. "You think I'm some sniveling coward? With no back bone that has to run crying back to his mother because someone's picking on him?"

Hexavier snorted. "Absolutely."

Reginald calmly took his stride over to Hexavier. This was the same man that had asked him when he planned to propose to Harlequin Hatter previously the other evening. Picking up the piping hot kettle of black tea…he poured himself a cup. "You know what you gave me last night…worked a little better than expected Master Hatter." He put three cubes of sugar into his cup before he stirred it around. "Do you know what Delmont told me what was in said cup of medicine, Master Hatter?"

"…No." Hexavier lied.

"Piss, sir. Piss." Delmont called suddenly, dragging himself in lazily.

"Oh goody, now all we need is the flea-bitten psycho and we're good to go with this pleasant little tea-party." Halviere sneered.

"Caution, Mister Hare." Delmont advised. "I awoke a few hours ago in an unpleasant mood and I do not intend to go to bed angry. So I suggest you close your mouth tightly before your sister does it for you." Delmont glanced at Henrietta whilst she cracked her knuckles.

"I'll do it too." Henrietta growled.

Halviere got quiet and sat down as Reginald sipped his tea casually while standing in front of Hexavier. "Now, Master Hatter. I advised you to go to Mister Pillar for your medical condition last night. Did you carry out that task or did you just tear up my note I gave you and start cutting yourself again when you realized that I'm not going to be deterred by your attitude and be a submissive little twit anymore?" He asked politely.

When Reginald's cup lifted up to his lips again, Hexavier slapped it out and the cup broke on the ground. "…I see that we have a problem here."

"Yes, Master Hatter. We do." Reginald nodded calmly. "See, I realized a few days ago at my parents' house, that my mother likes to belittle me a lot. She thinks I'm gay." He informed. "So I told her as politely as I could, until I got fed up with being nice to mommy, to shut up."

"Heard that went over marvelous." Halviere muttered.

"Yes, it did. So much so my mother never wants to see me again. You know what, Master Hatter, Mister Hare…? I don't care. I don't care anymore. Nothing could bother me anymore about people belittling me because I know now that I can fight back." He said softly, a small smile on his face. "I'm not scared to be rude anymore to people who are rude to me. So I say this to you, Master Hatter. Thanks for the piss, you can have it back."

Delmont suddenly handed Reginald the same mug that Hexavier had concocted the substance to 'cure' Reginald with. Looking down into it, Hexavier found it clean, but it smelled funny. "What's that smell?"

"Exactly." Reginald and Delmont smiled humorously.

"OH! DIGUSTING!" Hexavier snarled, dropping the cup.

Halviere of course…fell out of his chair laughing hysterically. It was by far the first time Henrietta had seen him actually laugh and her mouth twitched into a small smile. "…Wow Halviere." She whispered. "Good job."

Harlequin of course couldn't even begin to fathom what had possessed Reginald to do such a thing. Before she could even open her mouth he turned to smile at her before pouring himself another cup of tea and toasting her. "To Chevalier. May he finally have put some back bone into me after years of torture."

--

With the meal set out before him, Chevalier set to work on it. Despite having declared him as a vicious creature, Tabitha found he was a neat and clean eater. Chevalier's table manners were exceptional compared to his personality behavior. He licked his fingers, sipped his milk quietly, and cleaned his plate when he was done, like a good little pussycat would. When he had finished, Chevalier handed the plate to Tabitha while licking his lips like any normal feline was. He wrinkled his nose slightly before he burped and covered his mouth. "Well, that was certainly tasty, Miss Tabby Cat." He concluded. "So, Miss Tabby Cat…you've probably got an interesting array of questions for me. Why don't you go ahead and ask them to me. Come on, show me what you've got."

Tabitha twiddled her fingers casually on the warmth of her coffee cup before she finally asked him: "What do you call the place you come from? If you're not associated with Alice in Wonderland?"

"It's a little place we like to call Topsy Turvy. It's called that because everything there is a whole lot different than here. Topsy Turvy's called the way it is because it's a confusing place in itself." Chevalier explained, now lying across her table as though he were at one of Madame Hatter's tea parties.

"Okay…" She pulled a chair out from the kitchen table and sat in front of him. "What about you? Do you have any friends in Topsy Turvy?"

"…If you call acquaintances friends, I have a few. Yes." His tail was swishing back and forth casually. "Why?"

"Who are they?" Tabitha prodded on with another question.

"Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, Madame Hatter, and Mistress Hare. Dare I go on?" He swiped at a fly that had buzzed by his head and missed it. He hissed at the insect in anger at not being able to catch it before he leapt off the table and for the fly. To no avail, it got away again.

"Are they like you?" Tabitha cocked her head to the side while he chased the fly around the kitchen. "Would you please be careful, my mom just had the kitchen re-done last week." If only her mother could see this now, a strange man with feline tendencies in her house.

"Like me? Oh no. Not at all. Unless you count the cunning in Madame Hatter's head. Then I guess she and I are alike in a strategic way." Chevalier explained while plopping down on the floor to check for any more moving critters he could catch. His hands slapped around on the floor in annoyance to see what could be his potential prey before he realized it wasn't anything more than one of those twisty tie things that came from a package of bread.

"Madame Hatter is…?" Tabitha trailed off, looking for some form of information on this woman he referred to as 'Madame'.

"Madame Harlequin Helena Hatter." He answered. "She's my benefactor. I live with her. You could say she so generously offered her home to me in exchange for being her personal 'pet'. Of course her definition of 'pet' goes as far as: 'you're my secret weapon. Be a good boy and play nice'." Chevalier's tail flicked back and forth. "She's a very complex and unfazed woman unless it comes to her brother…Master Hexavier Harlem Hatter. He's Madame's elder brother. Oh, I could tell you stories upon stories, Miss Tabby Cat. Of course I don't think I will. I've got a job to attend to." Chevalier got up and moved towards the front hallway to leave before Tabitha had stepped in his way.

"Wait! Wait! Job? What kind of Job? Are you on a mission? Did Madame Hatter send you here? What for?" She was stammering for words to keep him from leaving without an explanation.

"I need a White Heart to put on the throne in Topsy Turvy. Know where I can find one?" He asked, quickly spinning on his heels and leaning in the doorway casually with a grin. All the while, some annoying sound kept buzzing in his ears. It hadn't happened until he'd met Tabitha. It was an annoying, nagging, sound that just kept pulsing in his head. It almost sounded like…like…a heart beat.

"I'm sorry…Do you mean a person? You're trying to find some random person to put on the throne of Topsy Turvy?" Tabitha asked.

"I've said too much." Chevalier grinned at her deviously.

--

Authoress Note: Ooh…Well, interesting chapter guys. Reginald grew a backbone, Delmont played a joke on Hexavier, Halviere laughed his ass off, and Chevalier's being his usual naughty self. Hope you all enjoyed. Stay tuned for the next chapater.


	9. The White Heart is Found

Authoress Note: All right guys! It's been a bit since I've updated. I've been having some writer's block lately and I hope you guys can forgive me for slacking. So here's a new chapter to make it all better.

But first:

Reviewer Acknowledgement:

Shadow4love: I'm glad you like my new take on the Old Alice in Wonderland story. See, I haven't read The Looking Glass Wars yet, but I was informed of the Character called 'The Cat' and I felt deeply moved by how it seemed he was 'working' for the Queen of Hearts character in the store and I decided 'what if he was against her and such because of said events'? You know, so I decided to make this fanfiction. Thanks.

xXLieselotteXx: Of course I put you in a chapter reviewer acknowledgement. It's an honor to have you as a reviewer. Thanks.

Gregory's Bride: Chevalier is one of those kinds of characters where his past is a mystery but you know he's been through something awful and needs lots of love despite how crazy he is. He's a lot of people's favorite. He's mine especially. I'm glad you like the dark twist to the story. Thanks.

Xanthera: OOH! Muffin! (catches and eats) Mm. Thank you. I hope to be getting more lengthy reviews from you and hope to be seeing more of you. Thanks!

--

_Disclaimer 1__: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Caroll._

_However…I have my own character ownership too._

_Disclaimer 2__: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, Seth, The Heart of Darkness: Justine, the unnamed 'white heart', and Tabitha all belong to me_.

--

"So…wait." Tabitha pulled out a chair in front of her and sat down. "White Heart?"

Her brows knit together in interest. "What are you looking for again Chevalier? You need like…a 'white heart' object?"

Chevalier rolled his eyes and leaned against elbow on the table. "…No, no, no. Silly girl." He flicked her on the forehead. "The White Heart is supposedly a person. Madame sent me here to fine it." He explained. Before he could open his mouth again, he caught something out of the corner of his eye and watched as a fluffy Persian cat slinked into the kitchen. His teeth grit together and he locked eyes with the other feline-creature.

In an instant they were hissing and pawing at each other from the distance between them, Tabitha of course could not help but look slightly fascinated and confused at the situation. "Ohh! That's Marie." She explained, picking up the hissing ball of fluff and petted her. "I'm sorry, she's a little territorial."

"Yeah, well so am I." Chevalier growled, Marie hissed at him in response to which Chevalier gave a guttural snarl, sending the cat out of Tabitha's arms and running off into the other room.

"Oh! Now why'd you have to go and do that?" She turned and frowned at him.

"Because…I don't like others that resemble me." He proclaimed, licking his fingers politely for any remnants of the tuna and sardines.

Tabitha snatched his cup up off the table after seeing it was empty and gave him an annoyed look. "That was totally unnecessary."

Chevalier had suddenly thrown the chair out from behind him and suddenly grasped Tabitha's wrist in his hand with a scowl on his face. "As is this?" He asked her, his tone threatening.

She looked shocked that he had the nerve and audacity to behave so unrefined towards her after she had practically fed him. Tabitha tried to wrench her hand out of his grasp. "Ngh. Let go."

Chevalier suddenly had pressed her wrist against the counter and grit his teeth. "Take it back." He told her aggressively,

Tabitha tried to struggle in his grasp and she effused to look at him. "Let go of me!"

"You take back what you said to me or I'll-" He stopped when an obnoxiously loud sound kept pounding in his head. The heartbeat from before had returned and seemed louder than ever in his head. He couldn't help but shut his eyes tightly as his ears seemed to pound with the beat.

He let go of her and the sound only ceased briefly before it slowed and started again. He could still hear it. "Where is it…?" He growled. "Where is that fucking sound coming from!?" He snapped. He started actually prowling around her kitchen and into her living room briefly where he found Marie, her cat, under the couch. He hissed at it: "IS IT YOU?!"

The cat scampered off after he tried to grab at her underneath the couch, before Tabitha had followed him to make sure he didn't hurt the poor thing. "Hey! Stop it!"

He spun and grabbed her again, his pupils shrunk to slits and his ears were plastered to the back of his head and he hissed at her. "WHERE IS THAT SOUND COMING FROM?!"

"Aah! What sound? I don't hear anything!" Tabitha cringed in fear of him as he started yelling expletives.

"Where is it? Where the fuck is that sound?!" He let her go and began prowling around again before it dawned on him, Delmont's words.

--

'_Her name will not be Alice…'_

_--_

'_Typical Mousy, always cryptic in any prophecy he foretold, but then again what if Mousy was right?_' Delmont's messages were usually right and he never got anything wrong. Hell, Delmont even knew when Chevalier was on the roof of Madame Hatter's house. His ears perked slightly and he decided instead of getting angry over it to try and locate it. Chevalier stopped, he breathed, and calmed down. He would let his ears lead him to the sound until he had once again stopped in front of Tabitha.

Tabitha had been highly mortified and confused by Chevalier's antics, his behavior, until he had decided to try and 'rationalize' the situation (in his own sense she supposed) and take a more ideal approach to looking for whatever sound plagued his hearing. He had stopped in front of her and was apparently taking in the source of where the sound came from. It didn't take more than a moment before one of the furry devils atop his head suddenly became pressed against her chest to hear her heartbeat.

Tabitha blushed; somewhat embarrassed by how incriminating this position appeared to be. "…What are you doing?"

Chevalier's other ear twitched when she spoke, his right ear pressed against her heart in order to hear it. His pupils dilated at this sudden realization.

'_Not Alice. Not Alice. Not Alice. NOT ALICE.' _He pulled away and gave Tabitha a very quizzical look.

"Miss Tabby Cat…do you have a middle name?" He asked, strolling away from her casually before he turned back around and crouched on all fours, slinking his way towards her mischievously. "Hmmmm?"

What? Oh no. What madness was he going on about now? What a stupid thing to ask. Of course she had a middle name. Tabitha stomped her foot suddenly when he got closer, and watched as Chevalier drew back. "Wh-What? Of course I do! It's Alexis. Now what are you going on about? First you get mad at me for no reason, then you lay your hands upon me, then you go mad in my living room, harass my cat, and NOW your back to your sweet self again and asking me about my middle name? Just what in the world are you trying to do?"

Tabitha had never been more confused and annoyed with anything in her life. "You…you're just some crazy person or animal that…" She couldn't think of what to call him she was so angry. "How can you just be so…"

"Maaaaaaad?" Chevalier finished her sentence, seemingly rolling on her carpet now with an obnoxious grin on his face. "Hmm hmm. Oh…Miss Tabby Cat, I think I know something you don't know."

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" She went back into the kitchen so she wouldn't have to look at his face while he sat there and mocked her with riddles. "You need to leave, I-I just can't deal with this. I've fed you, but you need to be on your way." She opened her front door as a gesture to get him to leave."

"Is mommy's name Alice?" He cooed, from under her kitchen table suddenly.

She nearly jumped at how fast he had moved, bending over to look at where Chevalier was. He was sitting underneath her table grinning like a little monster almost. "No. Her name's Leanne. Can you please leave now? You're making me uncomfortable, I'll call the cops if you don't."

"Ooh!" Chevalier came out from under the table with excitement in his eyes. "Let's call Officer Paulie! I'm sure he'll be happy to hear from me. I'm a wanted man you know." He tittered, grabbing the cordless phone on her kitchen wall with a grin.

Before he could dial anything, Tabitha snatched it from him and slammed it back in the receiver. "What did you just say?"

"Officer Paulie?" He said. "Oh he and I are lovely acquaintances. He brought me into the precinct 3 weeks ago. I don't know if the cops are looking for me but I bet he is." Chevalier laughed. "Oh! This is so much fun Miss Tabby Cat!" He danced around her kitchen before grabbing her hands and forced her into a little jig with him. "Come on, let's play a game! I've got a great one!"

She managed to kick him in the leg suddenly before going for the phone after he yelped in pain. "Gah!"

Tabitha picked up the cordless phone and went to dial 911, before Chevalier had his arms around her waist and had suddenly breathed into her ear. "Your our White Heart, Tabitha. If it isn't all ready clear to you yet."

Tabitha had dropped the phone, forgetting the fact that he could in fact move so fast. "Eh….please don't hurt me. What do you want from me? I'll give you money, just don't touch me or do anything to me."

Oh. Petty pleas. He found himself sickened by them before letting go of her. "Ugh…" He growled. "You're not any fun Miss Tabby Cat. Here I find out that you're our White Heart and you're not even happy about it."

Again. Again. Again. He was an enigma, a very mad enigma and Tabitha was sick of it. "That's it!" She screamed. "I'm sick of it. What do you want? What is this White Heart you keep referring to me as?" She snapped. "I'm so confused and you're not helping me understand this at all?"

Chevalier was calmly looking down at the link of his sweater before he started getting tickled by his momewraths again. He squirmed in his seat laughing before they stopped and he was humming his little song again.

"Oh…the momewraths are singing, shovel noses weaving, and the morbid moat is-" His little song was interrupted when Tabitha's hand suddenly lashed out and yanked his tail off suddenly and held it high in the air.

"LISTEN TO ME!"

Chevalier's attention snapped to his beloved tail in her hands and the tone of her voice. He, unfortunately, was at her command when his dear tail was at stake. Then again…he could always take it back by force. He pushed the chair out from him and stood up, glaring at her with his tail in her hand. "You give her back now…" He hissed. "Or I will have to hurt you Dear Tabby Cat."

"My name is Tabitha, not Tabby, and certainly not Tabby Cat…" She warned. "Now, I'm sick of your riddles and your games, Chevalier. Tell me what's going on. Or you'll never see your precious tail again."

"Ohhh…" He grumbled, throwing a small silent tantrum in front of her before he huffed, stomped his foot, and pouted. "Fine. Fine." He growled. "I'll SPEAK." He held out his hand. "But give my baby back first."

Tabitha held his tail firmly. "You'll speak first and then you'll get your tail back."

"Gahhh…Fine." He told her, gesturing to the chair he was sitting in.

"Please…do be seated. I've got quite a story to tell you."

--

The dresses were all wrong and seams had to be re-hemmed again. Justine was fed up with how many heart designs appeared to be going out of styles these days and she was throwing her many dresses at the servants trying to help her change into something suitable for her business meeting with her sisters. "Gahhhhh! No, no, no, no, no. NO, NOOOOOOO!" The Heart of Darkness exclaimed.

"This is an outrage! My dresses are all out of style! I must be ready for the meeting in 4 hours and I have nothing to wear! It's all wrong! Everything's wrong!" She whined. "SETH!" She cried. "Oh Sethy!"

The gigantic door to her bedchamber slowly creaked open and her Royal Highness was met with her most faithful servant that she could call upon. "Oh Sethhhy!" She whined.

Golden chains clinked together on his boots as the (seemingly) young Egyptian man, approached her and stood at her side in the mirror. His brown eyes bore into the reflection of the Queen as she stood there in her corset and lingerie looking a royal mess of anger at the thought of not having the right dress. This Mr. Seth was far taller than her, and was not only her most faithful servant, but also her most unusual. "My Lady. Is something wrong?"

She flipped her hair in a huff and Justine pointed at the other servants holding her other dresses and watched as they fell over from the weight of them. "Hmf! Yes, Sethy. Look at me. I have nothing to wear. All of my dresses and outfits are out of style and it's not fair!" She whimpered, looking up at him with glittery eyes and a pouting face. Her hands reached up to his head to cup a pair of furry wolf ears in her hands. "I have a business meeting with my sisters and I must look prettier than they do."

Seth had always attended to his Lady's whims and wills whenever she wished for them to be granted. Her mother had always said he had been there since her birth and had been faithful to look after her so she did not get into trouble. He had been deemed as her royal bodyguard and personal guardian after her mother has passed on and left her all alone in the world. From there Seth, migrated the young heiress to and from a distant land called Egypt (at least that's what he called it) from time to time in order to give exactly anything her heart desired at the time. She still recalled having his lovely emerald scarab necklaces from when she was a little girl hanging around…somewhere in this mess of a room.

Justine rubbed his fuzzy ears gently, watching the narrow fluffy tail behind him suddenly wag on its own and he gave a soft noise in the back of his throat before bringing himself to composure. "Ahem. My Lady, it would do well for you to tell me what I may do to remedy this situation for you. If you ask of me, I will do it for you."

Justine squealed in delight and hugged him tightly. "Ohhh! Of course! Of course! All right then, this is what I'll need Sethy. Will you remember or do you plan to take notes?" She asked.

Seth shook his head at her, rolling his eyes. "My Lady, when have you ever known me to forget?"

"Ohhh…" Justine said, rather sadly. "…Well, never but-"

He placed a finger over her lips, rolling his eyes at his dear queen in a bored fashion before he spoke again. "Fortunately I'm able to predict a lot of things about you due to the fact I've known you for the whole of your life." Seth reminded her. His eyes were showing dull interest, despite the fact he cared deeply for Justine's happiness.

"I knew this day would come for you to complain about your dresses. You're fortunate that I imported some new fabrics for you from Egypt and I'll even see to it myself they are sewn by my hand if nothing will be to your liking." Seth informed. "Now if any complaints shall be made, my lady. You may make them to me." He bowed.

Her blue eyes blinked up at him with innocent confusion until he mentioned the fact that he had specially imported fabrics from her favorite place in the whole world. The magic word: Egypt. Ohhhh. Justine mentally melted at the thought of the fabrics he had imported. The soft silks, the pretty satin, the elegant Egyptian cotton, and jewelry too! Oh, Sethy never forgot her jewelry. Justine squealed in delight and clapped with approval before hugging him around his waist tightly. "Ohhh! Sethy, Sethy! Thank you sooooo much. You always know how to treat me right." She pulled away and began spinning around in delight at the thought of her new dresses.

"You're most welcome My Lady. My intention is to always make sure you are happy." Seth informed, his furry canine ears flicked off a flea that had tried to make its way onto him. "I'll see to it you have your dress in time for the afternoon. The rest shall follow for this evening." He took another bow towards her and turned his back to leave. As Seth's hand reached for the door, Justine's slender arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

"Awww…." She cooed. "Do you have to go so soon?" She asked with a whine. "We never have time to see each other anymore. We hardly talk because you're always busy making sure I get everything I want. It's not fair Sethy…" Justine whispered. "It's like we never have time for each other at all."

Seth smiled at her from over his shoulder. "My Lady, I know I have all the time in Topsy Turvy but you do not. I'll never get your dress ready if you keep holding me back."

"Well make them here then…" Justine pouted, muffling her voice into the fabric of his shirt while his fluffy tail tickled her chin. She giggled. "Noooo! Sethy! That's not fairrrrrr." She laughed as he suddenly turned on her and assaulted her with an attack of tickles.

"Nooooo-hooooo…" She squealed, as he played his usual game with her whenever he came to visit. "Please Sethy, make the dresses here. That way I can talk to you while you work. I've sooo much to tell you-ahaahahaha! Nooo! Stop it!"

He relented his tickle torture and let her go. "As my Lady commands…" He said, humbly bowing to her before turning to leave again. He was met with a door slamming open in his face and he fell backwards.

The Secretary of Black Hearts had just burst with his face covered so he would not see her royal Highness in her indecency. "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I bring awful news!"

Justine was on her feet as soon as Seth was hit in the face by the door. "AAH! Sethy!" She exclaimed, rushing to his side to cup his face in her hands. "GRRRR! How dare you! You've no idea what you've done! You could have knocked Sethy's teeth out! You'd best have a good reason for this horrible accident or I'll make sure you regret it!" She snapped.

"My apologies Majesty…but…your sister…Her Majest Lenore' she's…she's received your message not too long ago. Your sisters…they've all cancelled their meetings by her call."

"Oh…My Sister received my message about the threat of her children?" Justine said, fawning over Seth, trying to smooth his ears back on his head while easing his face.

"What about the message, Secretary?" Seth asked him, rubbing his forehead. "My Lady will not wait for your incompetence." He said with a displeased look on his face at the little man holding a black envelope in his hands.

"…Your Majesty, your sister…has sent this as her response." The secretary held the envelope up to her with a shaking hand. "She expressed great urgency you read it right away."

Justine snatched it from the little man with a scowl and ripped the envelope open to read the letter inside. What she saw made her face go even paler than it ever had been and she fell backwards into her pile of dresses. "AAAAHHHHHH!!!!" She cried. "MY BABIES! SHE'S TAKEN MY BABIES!!!" She howled, tears pouring from her eyes. "She's hurting my babies!"

Seth, realizing what she meant took the letter from her and scanned over it.

--

'_To Her Royal High Maintenance Majesty Justine,_

_To whom it may concern, this letter is in response to your earlier threat you had sent earlier in regards to my beloved children. For this grave mistake you will know what it feels like to worry and grieve over your own 'babies'. Your beloved pet jackals will be in my care until further notice. From that time you will rethink over the threat you have sent regarding my children. You're forbidden from any visits from your beloved pets as well. Since you have threatened my children I shall now threaten yours._

_This is a promise, send a formal apology and you will see them returned to you._

_Sincerely,_

_Your sister,_

_Her Royal Majestic Crowned Spaze._

_Lenore' of the Spazes.'_

Seth put the letter back into the secretary's hands and pulled Justine into a tight hug as she sobbed uncontrollably. "Leave us." He ordered. "NOW!" He bore sharpened canines in response to the secretary merely standing there.

The little man bowed in response and closed the door behind him.

"She's going to kill my babies…" Justine whimpered.

"No she's not." Seth assured. "I won't let her." He stroked her curly locks of red hair. "Shhh…it's all right. I'm here. She won't get me."

"If she takes you too I'll have no choice but to wage war on her to get you back." Justine whispered, squeezing him tightly. "Oh…Sethy…don't leave me." She cried. "I don't want to be all alone again."

"…As my lady commands. I am here with you. Always."

--

"There's a tyrannical ruler in the land of Topsy Turvy," Chevalier began. "She goes by the title of the Heart of Darkness." Chevalier sat across from Tabitha, his fingers folded together while he stared at the table with disinterest.

"Many moons ago she was crowned Queen of Topsy Turvy, unlike any of the other queens…it must be a 'HEART' that takes the True Throne." Chevalier sneered, mocking someone's exact words of it before he continued his story. "It's not hard to understand why, at least to me. So the Heart of Darkness reigns terror over our land and blah, blah, nonsense, and more nonsense." He drabbled.

Tabitha cocked her head to the side in interest. "Oh…so…why do you need a 'White Heart' to put on the throne?"

"It must be a 'Heart' and because, the Heart of Darkness and her sisters were children of the original White Heart. Unfortunately I was sent to this place in order to retrieve the next White Heart. White would mean the heart is pure and untainted. That way the kingdom can be untainted." Chevalier divulged, seemingly bored with having to tell the story like it was.

"So the current 'Heart' is corrupted…" Tabitha tapped her fingers against the table. "And…I am your current choice of White Heart because…?"

Chevalier rolled his eyes at her. "You still don't get it do you? Since I've been hear, I have heard no other's heartbeat that beats as loudly as yours does in my ears."

His tail twitched and writhed in Tabitha's hands before she finally handed it back to him.

He snatched it and immediately watched as the poor thing latched back onto his posterior. Chevalier wiggled his behind a little bit and sighed. "Ohhh…poor thing. Daddy's here." He cooed to his tail, stroking the purple fur on it before looking up at Tabitha with a grin.

"And now since I've located you, I have to take you back to Madame Hatter so she can assess you." Chevalier clicked his tongue at her. "Oh…fun stuff that will be."

Tabitha's head shot up from where it was resting on the table and she gave him a look that was disbelieving. "Oh, no. No, no. I'm not going anywhere with you. You're barking mad if you think I'm really going to-"

"I have no choice in the matter!" Chevalier snapped, standing up from his seat. "Do you think I like doing this job? You think I like being indebted to Madame and working for her 100% of the time? Absolutely not!" He walked around towards her and pointed at her.

Tabitha drew back and slapped his hand away from her. "Don't you be rude and point at me like that you beast."

Chevalier's teeth gnashed together and he suddenly snatched her by the collar of her shirt, holding her in the air with an iron grip and some sort of magic strength. Tabitha gagged slightly because it felt like he was choking her. He hissed at her suddenly, drawing out the words slowly and sadistically. "You call me an animal every again…and I'll rip out your esophagus with my bare teeth." He threatened her. "See Miss Tabitha…It's not my choice. Once I find you, I HAVE to bring you back. I always follow my Madame's orders." He explained, purring in her whilst he nuzzled against her cheek. "Your fear's pretty." He complimented her.

"Ngh." She grunted.

"Now…I suggest that if you want to stay on my good side, you will do well and come with me so Madame Hatter can explain of her plans next."

Tabitha's blood was chilled by his nasty words and threatening tone and she was suddenly dropped back to the floor, where she was quickly locked into a grip by his tail. Chevalier picked up her cordless phone and dialed a number.

--

An old fashioned telephone rang in the Hatter household several times before spindly fingers picked up the receiver. Harlequin Hatter spoke into it. "Hatter Household, which Hatter do you wish to speak with?"

Chevalier's breath was familiar over the receiver and Madame Harlequin Hatter looked up at the clock on the wall. "Cat?"

--

"Madame…" Chevalier purred into the receiver. I have her." He informed.

--

Harlequin Hatter almost dropped her receiver and she sputtered and coughed up some of the chai tea she was drinking. "Gah! Is it true?" She spat.

--

Chevalier, turned his head towards a horribly confused Tabitha. "Would you like to speak to Madame Hatter, Miss Tabby Cat?" He offered, holding the phone out towards her.

"Let me go! Get that away from me!" She yelled, trying to pry himself from the grip of his tail.

"_Tabby Cat?"_ Came Harlequin's voice over speakerphone.

Tabitha stopped suddenly and looked at the phone held out in Chevalier's hands. "Well?"

"_...Miss Tabby Cat is it?"_

"My name is Tabitha…what is it you want? Money? Ransom? IS this some kind of sick gang initiation test?" She was in denial of the events that were really happening now.

There was a pause over the phone and Harlequin Hatter spoke with a sincere tone of voice.

"_Miss Tabitha…we want to be free." _

_--_

Authoress Note: Well I hope you enjoyed chapter 9. Yes, Seth will be a reoccurring character in the Heart of Darkness', Justine's, life. Tabitha is here to stay, and Harlequin Hatter will be pleased.

Thanks. Read and Review.


	10. Tea Time

iAuthoress Note: I apologize for this long awaited chapter 10 folks. I've been experiencing a bit of writer's block and hope you will all forgive me. Happily, all is well now and I do hope you will enjoy all the twists and turns I will provide for you in this story. Muahaha. But first, let's thank some of our reviewers!

Reviewer Acknowledgment:

Watergoddesskasey: Thanks! I think it's awesome too, but it's not perfect. Haha.

Shadow4love: Oh! Chevalier and his tail have a long history. See, his tail actually has a special momewrath on it that can detach itself from his body. He quite affectionately refers to said momewrath as: 'Sasha' therefore that's why he calls his tail by that pet name. He's very protective of his 'tail' because Sasha lives within it and she was the first momewrath to live on him.

xXLieselotteXx: Ah, well I don't think I'm old enough to publish my own book yet and the story's not exactly finished. Haha. Oh! Fan art! Fan art! (showers you with cookies) Must sees! Find its! Find zeh fan arts! Thanks so much!

James Birdsong: Hey, thanks for being so supportive of my story from the very beginning. I appreciate all the dedicaion you've put forth towards it. I appreciate it.

Tori: Yeah, Haha. I do have a tendency to go overboard with the adjectives and not check my grammar 100 percent of the time. I'm glad you like it. I'll be sure to continue adding more twists and turns into the story for you. You will NOT be disappointed.

KakaIru-luver: Oh! Oh! Everybody! I'd love you all to meet one of my veteran reviewers. She came from my Death Note Fanfiction (if anybody here would like to check that out as well) and I've missed her so much. (huggles her) Yes, well…Hexavier the equivalent of being the over-protective asshole older brother. Haha. He's not the nicest guy on the planet but he does worry that Reginald isn't the right man for Harlequin to marry. Harlequin doesn't even have a clue as to what's really going on, but then again she's known Reginald since they were children. Justine, The Heart of Darkness, is a completely different story. I plan to have many twists and turns in this story, she's not necessarily 'evil evil' she's just a spoiled brat who wants to be queen and rule a kingdom. That's pretty much her in a nutshell. Then there's Seth, who's known her since she was a wee child. So he basically is only there to make sure she's happy in life. He takes care of her and he loves her dearly. So…she's not ALL bad.

Anyways! Enjoy Chapter 10 folks!

--

_Disclaimer 1__: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Caroll._

_However…I have my own character ownership too._

_Disclaimer 2__: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, Seth, The Heart of Darkness: Justine, the 'white heart': Tabitha all belong to me_.

--

The incident about her pets had overwhelmed his Lady and Seth made it a clear note to put her to bed straight away after supper and dessert. As far as he remembered, Justine had always been stubborn about going to bed when he had said it was time for her to.

She always refused to put her nightgowns on and fussed at him for being so strict about the time she went to bed. She chastised him and Seth in turn always had some way of always getting her to go to sleep whether she wanted to or not. This evening was just the same as the others.

"My lady, I suggest a slightly heavier nightgown this evening. There's a chill in the air and I would much prefer you not catching a cold." Seth insisted, filtering through her drawers before he pulled out a cozy little pink gown for her to wear.

Justine of course sat lady-like on her bed in a very revealing fuzzy red robe. Her arms crossed and her mouth in a pout. "No." She said, getting snippy with him.

Seth dropped his arm with the gown in his grasp. "Please don't make me go through this again my lady, you do know how I hate to force you to go to sleep."

Justine turned her head away from him. "If you really cared about me, you'd go get my doggies from Lenore' and make her pay." She sneered.

Seth shook his head. "Now, My Lady. It was you that said you would lose me if you sent me to go get them for you. The least I can do is bargain with your elder sister to make sure no harm comes to your pets." He assured.

"It's not fair! Why do you always have to make it difficult and make me do things I don't want to do?" She whined, pounding her fists against the sheets on her bed before Seth suddenly held her wrists in a strong grip. "Sethy!"

"Stop behaving this way, and please get dressed for bed. I will not tell you again, my lady." His eyes were dark and he looked generally displeased by the response she gave him: blowing a raspberry in his face.

Seth frowned and he suddenly was struggling to get the nightgown on her whether she wanted to have it on or not. No! No! I won't wear it! It's not the right season! It's not that cold out Sethy! Please!" She cried, beating her one fist against his back while he forced the gown over her head and pulled one of her arms through the sleeves.

After the tussle, she was seated on her bed with her arms crossed in an iron lock across herself in a self-hug and she was scowling at him. "You're a bad man Sethy, and I hate you." She sneered at him childishly before Seth tossed her robe at her with a shake of his head.

"I'm sure I am, my Lady."

"You are so and I hate you!" She whined.

Hate was one of the words he disliked to hear from Justine and Seth quite frankly was sick of it. Seth got right in her face, her wrists in one hand while he had her pinned down against her fluffy pillows with anger etched on his face. "Don't…question my faith, loyalty, and love of you, little one. You forget who it was that raised you after your good mother passed on."

"OHHH! Sethy! Stop it! I don't want to hear about my mother. You know she never loved me!"

"Your mother adored you and your sisters very much. If you haven't noticed, my lady, with all due respect, you have a kingdom to run and it's just as hard for you as it was for your mother. Do well to remember, everything I do, that I do it for you. I do it because my one purpose in life is to make sure you are happy and well cared for. I intend to follow every order of your mother's dying wish and see to it that you are indeed well taken care of whether you wish for my services or not." Seth shook her slightly as he spoke in a low and annoyed tone in her ear.

Justine was released and Seth stepped away from her towards the bedroom door before he felt her arms circle around his waist. Her head pressed against his back and she couldn't help but feel her lip quiver. "Sethy…wait. Don't leave me." Justine whimpered with fear suddenly.

His hand on the door, Seth stood there in cold silence and he stared at the wood of the chamber door with a frown. "I have scouting to do. I must." He insisted.

Her hold tightened and Justine's voice dropped to a fearful whisper. "…don't. I've been having the dreams again."

The canine ears atop his head perked up slightly and he looked over his shoulder at Justine holding onto him for dear life it seemed. "The dreams?"

"…The rats are coming." She quivered. "I'm scared Sethy. It's the same dream over and over again. They're coming and they're everywhere. Mother's there, and they're killing her and then they come for me. Oh Sethy! Don't let them get me!" She wept bitterly. "I don't want to be swarmed by rats in my sleep!"

For as long as Seth could remember, Justine had an unexplained fear of rats and mice in general. If he could recall, Justine had been but a child when she opened her closet to discover a hoard of rats had manifested within it after a period of time. They had scurried all over her room and over her feet. Terrifying the poor child, so much that she even screamed as to where a cat was when it was needed. Oddly enough, within the confines of the closet was one singular white rat that had a horrible glint to its red eyes and Seth could not bring himself to kill any of the disease-ridden beasts in front of Justine as a child.

He still wondered why they hadn't had a cat at the time to take care of the rodents. There was a horrible nagging feeling in the back of his head as he thought of that white rat in her closet amongst all the brown fur. Seth wondered if somehow, the monster lived.

'_Cat.'_ Seth thought, his mind wandered over that jagged and maniacal grin that always came to mind when it was least wanted. _'Him.'_ He felt uneasiness in his stomach, but was brought back to his duties as Justine's guardian when he heard her whimper his name.

"Sethy, Please…I'm very afraid…"

Seth sighed, not being able to help himself, and scooped her up into his arms. "Ahh…Very well then." He answered her.

"You have my undivided services for the rest of the evening."

She pecked him on the nose with a childish giggle.

"Oh, Sethy. You're always so good to me."

--

"…_Freedom. You understand, Miss Tabitha. Do you not?"_ Madame Hatter's voice spoke to her on the phone.

Tabitha couldn't really understand what any of this was about and she shook her head. "I…I'm sorry. I don't know what you mean. I'm so very confused by all of this and-"

"_Ahhh…"_ Harlequin sighed over the receiver. "_Well, if it makes anything better, I suppose I do owe you an explanation for my ward barging his way into your life. I'm sure you have many questions that he is not answering."_

Chevalier grit his teeth at Madame Hatter's words and he scowled. "Geee….thanks. I just feel appreciated by you so much." His tone was dripping with heavy sarcasm.

Tabitha's fingers took the phone from him and she spoke into it. "Oh…well, yes. I guess that's true. He's not exactly being clear. Is this…for real I mean?" She asked because she was so unsure of everything going on.

"_Miss Tabitha, I won't waste any time so I will say this, I am a woman of my word. I find lying to be cowardly and detestable. So I can assure of this: you are not dreaming, this is real."_

Tabitha gave a long pause of silence over the receiver. "Where are you?"

"Topsy Turvy. Where we all come from, where you will come to visit us shortly. I'm serving tea promptly at noon; please do make sure, Monsieur Cat brings you on time. There will be lunch as well. We hope to see you soon. Until then, I bid you good day."

"But wait-" Tabitha didn't get a chance to say anymore because Madame Hatter had hung up.

"So…" Chevalier's tail curled around the phone and took it from Tabitha. "…Believe me now?"

"I still think you're a mad man." Tabitha insisted as he hung up the cordless phone.

"Well, everyone I know thinks that." Chevalier chuckled as he slinked around her kitchen before he stopped just short of her front doorway. "So, shall we get going? Madame does hate to wait."

"I suppose I'll have to go with you. It seems I have no choice, as you may drag me there kicking and screaming. Is she just as mad as you?" Tabitha asked, reluctantly approaching him, hands on her hips and she frowned at him.

"Mad here, mad there, we're just about mad everywhere in Topsy Turvy." Chevalier grinned at her, taking her hand in his and yanking her forward. His tail curled around her as though to lock her in place and keep her from escaping before his grin widened. "Oh look at that!"

She looked down to find that the lower halves of their bodies had disappeared and she screeched. "AAAH! Where'd we go! What are you doing?! Half my body's gone!"

"And the momewraths are singings…shovelnoses weaving…" He hummed to drown her own before they had completely disappeared just like that into a nonexistent area of time and space, Chevalier's tail holding her in place as they floated in midair in this cold and gray realm.

"Where are we?" She looked around, seeing basically nothing but swirls of gray.

"Miss Tabby Cat, do you know why you're world to us is called, The Gray Area?" Chevalier asked her.

"…I didn't know your people called it anything." She grumbled.

"Because on our way there, we find that your world is dull and boring as soon as we pass through here."

"So…what is this place?"

"Upside-Down-Downside." Chevalier explained to her. "This smoke is all a result of Mr. Catt. Erwin. Pillar. He's the reason as to how I got into your world." Looking down, he watched as the world around them turned into blue and pink waves of smoke and he and Tabitha had suddenly tumbled down into a patch of mushrooms.

"Aah!" She yelped, scrambling around and brushing debris off her after the collision into the ground. Chevalier's tail had snapped off and it was still wrapped around her by the time she had managed to get back to her feet. "Oh! Oh! Your tail!"

Chevalier was buried underneath a pile of fallen mushroom tops and had clawed his way out, gasping for breath and looking quite perturbed. "Damn him." He growled. "He moved his house again." He grumbled in reference to the man he was speaking of earlier.

Tabitha managed to only just dig her way out of the soft pile of multi-colored mushrooms before she realized she definitely wasn't 'in Kansas' anymore. "Where are we?" She said, slightly confused and amazed at this intriguingly colorful world that she had been brought to.

Chevalier stood up and grasped Tabitha's hand to pull her out of the pile she lay under with a grin. "Welcome to Topsy Turvy!" He announced, gesturing to the vast and colorful forest in front of them.

"Topsy Turvy is a forest?" She asked him, her tone a little skeptical before Chevalier's frown answered her question.

"We're in the territory of the Dr. Cat. Erwin. Pillar. Dr. Pillar's house is the way I got into The Grey Area, your world." Chevalier explained. "Though it seems the bastard's moved his house. We're in the right area though Miss Tabby Cat. The Madame's House is just down the road."

Road? Tabitha cocked her head to the side and looked over Chevalier's shoulder to stare at the lively looking ground behind him. The grass and flowers seemed to be dancing and moving on their own without encouragement from the winds. "What road?"

Chevalier turned his head and stared at the ground before he scowled. "Ahem!" He called out to the dancing flowers.

As though their fun had been ruined, several tiger lilies on the ground hissed at him and Chevalier lifted up his foot as though to stomp on them. "Hey! The path! Make like trees and leaf." He ordered. "Or I'll root you up from this very spot."

Flowers. Tabitha couldn't help but smile. She'd always had some form of admiration for them, but when Chevalier's foot lifted up in order to do harm to them, Tabitha immediately moved to shield them from his wrath. "Chevalier…um. Wait. Maybe we can get them to clear the way in some other manner." She suggested.

Chevalier lowered his leg and crouched down to Tabitha's level. "Don't tell me, let's ask them nicely and maybe, just maybe, they'll clear a path for us?"

He had read her mind, but Tabitha ignored his sarcasm. "Yes. I do believe that may help. If you stop being rude."

"I've not been bred for manners, Miss Tabby Cat. So I won't ask." He turned his back to her and began muttering incomprehensibly. The tiger lilies and other flowers hissed at Chevalier from behind Tabitha before she had finally turned to them.

They're agitation ceased once Tabitha had gained their attention and she lay down on the grass to get a closer look at them. "Hello there. I'm Tabitha. I'm sorry; my…friend here isn't as nice as me. I'm sorry he's so rude. You see, ah…we're on our way to tea with an acquaintance of his. Would it be possible to clear a pathway so we won't be lost when we travel, please?"

The flowers sat there in silence amongst themselves before they turned their petals and clustered together whispering and giggling before the tiger lilies turned back to her and sneezed after sniffing her.

"Oh!" She gasped softly. "Haha. Bless you."

"Yes, talk to them why don't you. That'll get us there much-"

The flowers suddenly took their leave and parted from the grass in order to reveal a well-worn path into the forest and Tabitha stood back up. "Thank you." She said with a sincere tone of voice before she turned back towards Chevalier with a cocky smile. "Well? Cheshire Kitties first." She gestured.

His jaw briefly dropped and Chevalier couldn't help but grit his teeth together, grasp Tabitha by the arm, and begin to pull her through the woods. "Well, aren't we little-miss-perfect?" He sneered.

--

Ever since Reginald had gained his newfound courage, he'd been in the greatest of moods lately. Henrietta though was less than pleased by his behavior and often chose to berate him more only to receive a polite, yet snide, remark about her own issues of anger management.

Reginald was setting up the table for tea this afternoon. He had just placed down some of the Madame's good china when Henrietta said suddenly from her seat: "You know, Hexavier doesn't really like you that much. Why do you put up with him?"

Reginald had just put the sugar bowl down when Henrietta's question perked his ears up and he turned to look at her. "Oh? You're not cursing at me today?"

"For once, yes." Henrietta answered him curtly. "So, what's the issue with you and Hexavier?"

"…Hexavier loathes the fact that you've got such a high stature in your family's bloodline. I think he hates the fact your family has no real problems except your mother." Henrietta shrugged. "I mean, don't get me wrong. Me and my brother don't exactly prefer having cups of tea with Hexavier but…lately he's been quite loathsome." Henrietta placed her high-heeled boots on the table and let them rest there for a moment before she took them off.

"You really want to marry Harlequin?"

Reginald poured a cup of tea for Henrietta and stopped short when handing her the cup. "…Well…I mean. I've known her for a long time. Since I was a boy. We ARE practically neighbors. Oh dear cousin, you know that we've all grown up together." He set the cup down in front of her.

"I think I've always wanted to marry the Madame, much to my mother's dismay. Oh Henrietta, you should hear the awful things my mother says about her." Reginald sat down and put his head against the table. They were outside in the garden and Madame Hatter was inside preparing cakes and biscuits.

"Your mother's a damned slut Reginald. I don't know if anybody's told you that. You know why she had so many of you? Because she's horny and she uses the lot of you to do all the chores in the house." Henrietta shook her head, putting two cubes of sugar in her tea before sipping it.

Reginald winced at the reference Henrietta made towards Louisa-Claire Rabbit. His mother was a lovable woman, but she was a dreadful nuisance sometimes and he even regretted respecting her through the years. "Well…I can't agree with that comment, Henrietta…but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Mother is an unpleasant woman."

The two exchanged glances before they had a short bout of laughter at the joke. "Got that right." Henrietta chuckled.

Reginald's ears perked suddenly when he heard the garden gate swing open and he turned to only see Tabitha standing there by her lonesome.

When he opened his mouth to ask who she was, Chevalier suddenly appeared out of nowhere from behind and pounced on him, sending Reginald into the ground, face down and becoming quite distressed. "WAAAH!!!"

"Bunny-boy!" Chevalier exclaimed, "I've missed you soooooooo….much." He squealed, pinching Reginald's white ears atop his head before Henrietta stood up from her chair and snarled. "Get off him, you flea-bitten bastard!"

Chevalier's powers had returned to him while they had been here so he had a chance to show off to Tabitha. He disappeared suddenly and reappeared behind her, grinning from ear to ear.

--

The travel down the road had certainly been much better than Tabitha had expected. Back home, Chevalier refused to make sense in anyway; now that they were here he seemed to be explaining everything fervently. In fact, Tabitha realized that Chevalier liked to talk. A lot. He talked about the trees, the flowers, and even pointed out a tiny herd of wild momewraths crossing the path to get home.

She had never known that there were more of the momewraths that Chevaluer spoke of.

"They're wild?"

"Take it this way, they're like the fleas and rats of Topsy Turvy."

Tabitha watched as the little herd of scraggly little critters hurried their way across the path and out of sight. "They're rather cute, I must say."

"Cute my furry little ass." He wagged his tail slightly.

Tabitha watched the little creatures finally disappear from sight before Chevalier continued onwards. "What about yours? The ones in you? Aren't they wild?"

Chevalier suddenly started laughing uncontrollably because his sweater started moving again and his own momewraths were tickling him again. "Ahahahaha! Ah! No-ahaha! No…they're…they're tame. Wild ones, if provoked wouldn't hesitate to eat you alive if you hurt them purposefully." They momewraths stopped their tickling and Chevalier composed himself once more. "My momewraths are quite tame. They know tricks."

A lone one hopped out of his tail and landed on the ground, casually rolling around and purring happily before Chevalier picked it up. "Hello Sasha. You little devil you."

"You make much more sense here Chevalier. Why is that?" Tabitha asked him. "You're not quirky or annoying, like you were in my house."

Chevalier stopped petting the scraggly little ball of black hair in his palm before he looked back up at Tabitha and grinned at her. "Because, your world is boring. Boring and just absolutely dreadful to be in. It's not colorful and it's not to my liking."

"Why? What's wrong with my world?" Tabitha asked him.

Chevalier didn't answer, as the Hatter Household was just in front of them.

"Oh! They're all there all ready! How wonderful!"

--

Tabitha stood there looking at Chevalier sitting on the poor rabbit man's back, grinning from ear to ear and acting almost like a bully.

Henrietta almost couldn't believe it as this strange young woman stood there in the middle of Harlequin's garden with Chevalier acting so cheerful and happy. She stepped forward and almost fell to her knees in front of Tabitha. Henrietta knelt instead.

"Your Highness…" She whispered.

"Miss Tabitha." Came the voice that Tabitha had heard over the phone.

Tabitha looked up to find a woman who must have been the same age as her, dressed in cravat, blazer, and skirts to go with it. She was indeed the 'Madame' Hatter that Chevalier must have been speaking of. "You're-"

"Ah. You're on time. Good." Harlequin Hatter had tray in her hands and had set it down on the table.

"Who-"

"Sit. It's tea time."

--

Authoress Note: I had a bit of hard time writing this chapter, sorry it took so long. Hope you enjoyed.

Thanks!


	11. Oh mah god, Shoes

**Authoress Note**: All right everybody. I haven't exactly been keeping up with the story and I'm ashamed to say that I'm a procrastinator and that graduation is coming up. So I'm trying to cram us much time into my schedule as I can. I appreciate everyone's patience and this chapter will pay off for you.

And now…line up ye lawbreakers of Topsy Turvy.

Watergoddesskasey: Why thank you very much. :3

KakaIru-luver: My good friend, reviewer, from my Death Note Story. Good to see you back again. Yay! Oh my fan art of everyone! Yes! Fan artist alert! (point point) Applaud everybody we have a fanartist! Thanks

Jamesbirdsong: Thanks, glad to see you're still reading it.

Shoue: Oh! Look another reviewer from my Death Note Story too. Huzzah! Good to see you back! (shakes hand) I love the fact you're a momewrath fan, I think everyone wants one now. Haha.

--

_Disclaimer 1__: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Caroll._

_However…I have my own character ownership too._

_Disclaimer 2__: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, Seth, The Heart of Darkness: Justine, the 'white heart': Tabitha all belong to me_.

--

Tabitha stood there in silence as she watched a strange rabbit eared woman kneel in front of her and The Hatter woman at the head of the table address her to join them.

"Um…I-"

Henrietta immediately stood to her feet and grasped her by the hand. "Here, here. Take my seat your majesty." She insisted. Henrietta had never before seemed so nervous and excited before in her life. The only other time Harlequin Hatter could remember Henrietta this jittery was on her fist bite of carrot casserole.

Chevalier of course had lost interest in all other things around him, for he was busy pawing at Reginald's tail while he sat atop him.

"Bunny-boy! Have you missed me?"

"Not very much." Reginald said, face down in the grass. "Now could you please get off me? I've got tea to serve and I won't let Madame do it by herself." He pulled his face up off the ground and turned his head towards Chevalier to frown at him.

Chevalier of course looked at Reginald funny and leaned in close, sniffing his ears and hair all over before he deduced finally, "You smell funny, Bunny-boy. What's gotten into you? You're not shaking all over and I'm mad because of it."

Reginald grinned at him. "I've got a backbone. But in return, you can kiss my ass if it so pleases you."

Chevalier rolled off Reginald and he bore his teeth at him in a feline hiss before Harlequin snapped her fingers. "Cat." She called out to him. "Come."

"You got lucky Rabbit. Next time I'll get you when you least expect it."

--

Tabitha now found herself seated at the head of the table in Madame Hatter's seat with at least several different types of cakes and teas in front of her. From what she could judge, Chevalier had to remain at Madame Hatter's side at all times in this meeting. She felt extremely uncomfortable with several of these strange faces staring at her.

There was a Mad Hatter, a Dormouse, A White Rabbit, A March Hare, and of course, a Chehsire Cat.

Madame Hatter picked up an usual looking kettle filled with tea, and she poured Tabitha a cup before setting it directly in front of her. "Please, eat and drink. It will help clear your thoughts better."

"I'm still trying to register whether this is all a dream or not." Tabitha said, taking the cup of tea in her hands. "Thank you." She said, sipping at it. "Oh, this one's minty."

"That's probably jasmine." Henrietta explained. "It's my favorite."

Chevalier clicked his tongue. "Never much liked tea, can't stand the stuff really." He snickered.

Henrietta sent a glare his way and Chevalier in turn hissed at her. "Come at me then, bitch!" He snarled.

"You wana go, fleabag? I'll hurl your ass to the moon faster than you can hack up a hairball!" Henrietta retaliated.

"Silence!" Harlequin issued to them sternly, producing a ball of yarn from underneath the table.

Chevalier's sights suddenly settled on the ball of string instead of Henrietta and he snatched it from Harlequin in order to amuse himself. "Nyahaha." He cackled at his object of play. "Much appreciated."

"Now, stay that way." Henrietta sneered.

"Please…can we not argue at the table? The young lady doesn't even know why she's here. We have to at least issue some form of safety net for her. I can't stand it when we leave people hanging with so little information. No thanks to Chevalier." Reginald asked, picking up a plate of sandwiches and passing it over to Tabitha.

"You're welcome captain 'wet-my-pants'." Chevalier cooed, going back to playing with his ball.

Tabitha chuckled uncomfortably and continued to sip her tea without protest. "Why don't we actually start on that actually? I'm still quite confused as to why or how I can be here."

Harlequin snapped her fingers and Reginald immediately got up from his seat to pick up a teapot to pour her a cup of tea. "Yes, Madame." He said.

'Thank you, Reginald." Harlequin said, setting her teacup back down and looking back up at Tabitha with interest. "You'll have to excuse these two," She gestured to Henrietta and Chevalier. "They sometimes forget their manners."

"Harley-"

"No, not while I am speaking." Harlequin cut Henrietta off and then continued for Tabitha. "I'm sure a great deal confuses you, as it does us."

Delmont raised his hand suddenly at the end of the table. "Madame, if I may. I think I can explain things better." He suggested.

"Very well." Harlequin tapped her spoon against the ceramic cup. "Now then…" Her gaze lowered to the surface of the table before she stood up. "Change places!" She shouted.

The other party members stood up and thus mostly everyone moved around the table quickly until Delmont was sitting across from Tabitha and Chevalier next to her with Madame Hatter on his right side. "Miss Tabby-Cat. Long time no see." He chuckled, still playing with his yarn ball.

"Um…all right then." She said, confused at what just went on. "Mr. Dormouse, was it?" Tabitha turned her attention to Delmont awkwardly.

"Please, Miss. Call me Delmont. Everyone here does. Usually. Unless you count 'Monty'. I much prefer Del or Delmont." He advised, picking up a cup of tea and sipping at it. "Oh. Spice. My favorite." He said in delight.

"You were saying before…"

"Yes, well," Delmont set his cup down. "Miss Tabitha, we're recently been having some very difficult times here in the Land of Topsy Turvy. It actually seems to benefit our tyrannous matriarch of the land and decrease the morale of our citizens. I doubt Chevalier revealed a whole lot to you." His dark gaze traveled to the cat man with a frown.

Chevalier looked up at Delmont and so boldly chose to flip him off. "Suck it Mousy!"

"Aside from that, yes. You must be extremely confused by the situation. Our main goal is to overthrow the Heart of Darkness, the main monarchy of the land. To us it doesn't make sense why the youngest of the Cardigan Siblings happens to be on the throne and not the eldest." He explained.

"I think I'm understanding so far." Tabitha said, getting a clearer picture. "Please, do go on. I'd hate to interrupt you again."

Delmont shook his head. "Oh, not trouble at all." He yawned, picking up his cup and sipping at it. "I need this spare minute to get a drink of tea anyways."

He sipped for several moments before his cup went back down again and he continued. "There are four Cardigan Queens. The Queen of Spazes, The Queen of Clovi, the Queen of Dia-mone', and the Queen of Heartlin." He sipped some more tea. "Queen Lenore', Queen Cloris III, Queen Giada, and last, Queen Justine."

The whole table seemed to shudder. "The Turvians better yet know her as The Heart of Darkness." Harlequin noted.

"She's vile and cruel." Henrietta chimed in.

"Simply dreadful. I can't understand how the good White Heart Queen dealt with her." Reginald said with distaste.

Chevalier remained silent for several moments before he grit his teeth and he had leapt up onto the table so fiercely that it shook and he knocked over several teapots.

Tabitha drew back startled at the sight. "Chevalier!"

"Mr. Cat, come down now!" Harlequin ordered.

Chevalier began strutting across the table with his trademark grin. "I can tell you how her mother could deal with her." He explained. "The Good Queen had too much pity and compassion in her heart. So when she was begotten with yet another child, she hadn't the heart to have it aborted." He suddenly crouched down on all fours along the table and he crawled along it like a wild animal.

"She's the lowest of the low. She's a force to be reckoned with and if you so much as sing sweetly to her and she finds your voice is better than hers…" He got in Tabitha's face and he inhaled the scent of fear he could detect.

Chevalier thrust himself upwards and swooped his arm across the table and shattered several plates and teacups. "OFF TO THE GUILLOTINE!" He howled with laughter. "Ahahaahahaha! Muahahahaha! GAH!" He choked on his last laugh.

Harlequin Hatter had seen enough and she had suddenly thrust a leash and muzzle around his throat and mouth to constrict him from speaking. She hauled him back down off the table and suddenly dragged him off with a look of pure fury on her face. "Tonight is the night you shall go without supper."

"HISSSS!" Chevalier snarled at her.

"You've interrupted my conversations one time too many."

"Meowrrr!" Chevalier protested, biting and gnawing at the leash without much success until he eventually disappeared from sight with Madame Hatter.

Tabitha stood up with concern, immediately followed by Henrietta standing up with her. "Where is she taking him?" She asked.

"It's all right." Delmont assured, still sitting. He folded his hands in his lap. "This happens a lot. He'll be fine. The dungeons have done worse to him than Madame Hatter could do. The least she'll do is put him in the kitty crate and leave him without supper." He chuckled softly, picking up his tea.

"Sorry for this inconvenience, your grace." Reginald said politely, picking up another teapot and a clean cup to fill up for Tabitha with a cheerful smile.

'_The White Rabbit…'_ Tabitha thought to herself in amazement at the white rabbit ears atop Reginald's head. She glanced back at Delmont. _'The Dormouse.'_

Delmont sipped his tea casually. Tabitha looked over at Henrietta who stared back at her before blowing a strand of long and curly black hair from her face. "What?" She asked.

'_The March Hare.'_

"You're all just like the book!" Tabitha said aloud, a slight whine to her voice. "It's not fair! It is Wonderland."

They all fell silent at the table. "We do not speak of such incorrect stories, Miss Tabitha." Delmont said, suddenly setting his cup down, his tone livid. "I'm not too fond of how Mr. Charles Dodgeson explained his story. He got everything wrong and the man was substantially a pedophile in some cases." He picked up his teacup and sipped at it again.

"Your grace, you will forgive us if we seem so…shunning of the topic you speak of." Reginald apologized.

"Will you please stop referring to me as that? I told you, my name is Tabitha."

"But…we must." Henrietta professed suddenly, her hands slamming on the table.

"Why?" Tabitha asked.

"You're the Heart of the White Order. In other words: One of the 5 Queens of Topsy Turvy. "

"You are the last to be born."

--

Several servants took down the black drapes hanging in a massive bedchamber while orders were given around left and right. In the corner of the room in a larch armchair, sat an elegant looking woman of extremely pale proportions. The silver crown placed atop Queen Lenore's head was adorned with onyxes and emeralds glittering in the light above.

"Your Majestic Graciousness…" The Secretary of Spazes bowed to her professional once he had been given permission to enter the room.

Olive green eyes glanced up from the daily tax assessment of the Kingdom of Spazes, and Queen Lenoré folded the piece of paper up and laid it back on her lap. For a woman of her 28 years of age, Lenoré stared at her secretary with a gaze that both sized one up and also provided a wisdom-like answer for what her response would be.

She stood, lifting her hand up to make the secretary rise. "Arise, I've no need for my servants acting so formally unless we are in public. You shall understand that. What news do you bring?"

"Your sister has not yet sent word back about you holding her pets in custody. Should we resend another message or wait it out?" The secretary asked.

Lenoré raised her hand to silence him. Her face inquisitive and interested. "Really? Surprise." She chuckled softly to herself. "My sister knows better of me then. She's well aware of my condition. It's a shame that my petty younger sister shall never understand the joy of children until she's had some of her own." The Queen of Spazes scoffed.

"Then again…Justine's never organized." Lenoré said, sitting back down. "Dismissed, that is all."

The Secretary bowed and left Lenoré to her own whims. The Queen of Spazes sat in her chair a little longer before she stood up and turned towards the window. Her extravagant black skirts rustling as she moved. As the eldest queen of the land, it was her job to put her sister in her place if the situation proved necessary. Lenoré stared out at her kingdom in quiet contemplation before her dark green eyes looked up at the dreary sky ahead.

"The world has shifted." She said with confusion.

Lenoré paused and then her hand went to her heart. The Queen felt something spark in her that had not before and she whispered.

"Mother…you hide secrets well, but I know when your secrets arise."

--

The evening hadn't exactly gone as planned. Seth hadn't been able to get to work like he usually could. It wasn't as though Justine's needs weren't as important, but he was her royal bodyguard and devoted servant. He was supposed to be the one that made sure everything was done the way that it was supposed to be done without anyone botching it up. Instead, Seth was stuck here with his Lady in her bedchambers to watch over instead. Justine had so comfortably nestled herself in the crook of his arms to make sure that there was no way for him to leave her in the middle of the night. _'Clever girl.'_

One hand lifted up to caress over her curly locks of hair. Justine stirred only lightly before nestling back into his warmth.

"I wonder if I am more to you than you think me to be." He pondered aloud.

"I couldn't care either way. I am here for you, My Lady. My other duties can be upheld later."

Justine was a brat. It was one of the many things he hated admitting about her and Seth regrettably loved her for it. It was that kind of love that he had to admire and it was strange and unusual. Seth had always been aware of the fact that Justine could not live without him, because she hated doing everything for herself. It wasn't because she was lazy, it was because Justine was a brat and brats always liked it when people did everything for them. Justine was no exception and showered Seth with adoration and attention for each and everything he did for her.

It seemed just yesterday that he had just seen her as a small child clinging to her mother's skirts and whining every step of the way.

"My, how you've grown." Seth chuckled.

--

'No! No! Mummy I don't want a silly ol' babysitter! I won't have it! I don't want any kind of babysitter! No nannies! No governesses! No, no, no!'

Even as a child, she was a force to be reckoned with. Justine may have only been 7 ½ years old, but she seemed to drive away almost every governess or nanny that had ever been appointed for her. They never seemed to give her what she wanted and they always wanted it 'their' way, never 'her' way. They were mean and rude and they took her toys away when she wasn't supposed to have them taken from her.

'They'll just make me do things I don't want to again and-'

'_My child, you will do well and behave yourself! I will not put you in the care of Lenoré and inconvenience your sister from her studies.' _The good queen, Idina, the original White Heart, chastised her youngest and made a brief gesture in tapping her on the head sharply in a disciplinary matter. The latter only caused Justine to wail even more before her mother had finally stopped at the end of the hallway and proceeded to open the door to the child's room to show her inside.

'_You're Majesty.'_ Came a voice that young Justine had never heard before. It was a far different one than any of the other babysitters had and she could only poke her head out from behind her mother's skirts to peer at this strangely garbed man in the middle of her room with what looked like a pair of fuzzy things on his head.

'_What's all dis mummy?'_ Justine demanded. _'THIS is my babysitter?'_

'_Actually, my child. I've decided to try a new tactic. Since you refuse every babysitter, nanny, and governess bestowed upon you, I've decided to appoint you a bodyguard instead.' _The Queen explained to her, pulling the child out from behind her and pushing her in front so that the two could get a better look at each other.

'_I cannot than you enough for this opportunity, back in Egypt I would not have such a job.' _Seth expressed his gratitude to Idina and bowed to her and Justine. _'I will perform my duties to their fullest extent.'_

'_Mummy, I still don't get it.'_ Justine said, obviously not pleased with an explanation being given.

'_Justine, this is Seth Mun-rah. Seth is a very important man from a far away land. He's from Egypt. Seth is going be taking good care of you from now on. He's your bodyguard. He's here to protect and serve you.'_ The good Queen explained to her daughter.

7 ½ year old Justine could only stare at Seth in his strange and ugly clothes. They were robes and they weren't pretty at all. They made him look girly and boys weren't supposed to look like girls. The child and wolf-eared man stared at each other in contemplation before Justine hid behind her mother, poking her head out and sticking her tongue out at him.

'Nnnnh!'

'_What an interesting way children greet in this place.'_ Seth said, giving the Queen an inquisitive look.

Idina frowned and pulled Justine out from behind her. _'You behave. Seth's not only here for you, he's here because he has no other place to turn to. Topsy Turvy is now Seth's home. You're going to do everything Seth tells you to do. Seth isn't like your other babysitters Justine. He's here for you.'_

'_Why would anyone be here for me? Nobody likes me mummy. Remember? Nanny Corhagen told you I was a brat and didn't know why anyone could ever be here for-'_

The Queen placed her hand over Justine's mouth and gave Seth an apologetic look with her gentle eyes.

'I'm sorry. She's always like this. Justine's last nanny was not extremely pleasant on the idea of Justine actually being treated like she was a little girl instead of an adult.'

Seth cocked his head to the side at Justine. _'Oh?' _His hands were behind his back and his eyes didn't leave the child's annoyed gaze upon him.

'Justine wasn't exactly treated like a 7 year old girl by Nanny Corhagen.'

'_I see.'_ Seth noted.

A clock tolled somewhere in the Cardigan Castle and The good Queen looked up from her daughter. _'Oh! It's that time all ready? I dear, I can't stay and make sure you two get acquainted. I'm so sorry, Seth. I must take care of other matters.'_ She apologized and let Justine go.

'_Of course, your Majesty. After all, it is my job to serve My Lady here.'_ Seth gestured down to Justine.

'_Of course, thank you so much for coming to Topsy Turvy for this, I cannot thank you enough.'_

That said, the Queen closed the door to the room and Seth and Justine were alone.

'_Well, My Lady. Now that I'm here, what would you like to…do?'_ Seth's question was quickly diminished as the child had suddenly disappeared before his sight and he stood there looking around in dismay at where Justine could have gone.

'_My Lady…'_ He sighed. _'I understand that you may not like me being here, but I can only assure you that I am here to do your wishes. Your mother said so.'_ He looked under her bed and found nothing. He stood back up to his feet, before he felt something hit him in the back from behind, and from the closet, several toys were being pelted at him.

'_No! No! I won't have you! Go away! Go away! You can have all of these silly toys, but you stay away from my favorites!'_ The child cried.

Seth could only catch what was thrown at him and set them all down before they got broken. _'My lady…I'm not here to take your toys away. I-'_

Justine poked her head out from a rack of little dresses in the closet and blew an angry raspberry at him. _'I said NO!'_

This may have been harder than it sounded. Seth could only hope that any form of submission may calm the wrath this little one exerted. He bowed suddenly and spoke again. _'Your Majesty…if it pleases you, may I send for your breakfast?'_

Justine's little mouth opened to shout back at him, but her anger quelled when she saw him bow to her. Oh! He was bowing to _her?_ None of the others had ever done that for her. This was exciting. She suddenly had ventured outside of the closet, holding a pretty rag doll in one hand and a shiny red tiara was clutched in her other hand. _'Nannies never called me 'Your Majesty'_. _Mummy's the only one that's 'Your Majesty.' '_

'_Your mother told me I am here for you. So I shall abide by her wishes and serve you. What shall I send for in your breakfast order to the servants, Your Majesty?'_ Seth asked her.

_'Well…first. You can stop calling me 'your majesty'. I'm not queen yet. I can only be queen when Mummy's not queen anymore. So just call me 'my lady'. Second, I want you to get new clothes. I hate the ones you're wearing; they're ugly and make you look like a girl. Boys aren't supposed to look like girls and then-'_ She stopped when she saw the ears atop his head move.

In the state he was bowing in, Seth had never really imagined that his ears would cause such a stirring behavior in the child. The next thing he realized, his very sensitive ears were in the hands of this bewildered child. Justine was ecstatic._ 'Nngh. Ow. My Lady…please, they're very sensitive.'_

_'EEE! They're real!'_ She exclaimed, running her fingers over them and grasp onto Seth's ears and rub them. _'They're real! They move! They're furry! You're a doggy!'_ She squealed in excitement.

Oh. Such a dreaded word. It was something Seth had always hated being referred to as. He knew better than anyone what he was, and it certainly was no dog.

_'Dogs walk on four legs, I have two.'_ He corrected her._ 'I do ask that you not refer to me as 'doggy'. My name is Seth.'_

_'Fine, if you can't be 'doggy' you can be Sethy. I don't like Seth. It's too short.'_ She released his ears and stood in front of him.

Seth regained his composure and stared down at the little redheaded girl with his arms crossed.

_'Very well My Lady, anything else?'_

Justine clasped her hands together, before she skipped over to him and grasp his own hand in hers. _'Oh, yes, yes, Sethy. Here's what I want for today. I want French toast for breakfast with hot syrup, butter, and strawberries. And no eggs, I don't like eggs very much. Phew.'_

_'As you wish, My Lady.'_

--

It seemed as though nothing had changed much from that time period, except the fact that Justine was now a fully-grown woman. A very lovely, fully-grown, woman. It felt strange though. He wasn't older by her in look standards, but the age difference varied highly. Seth was a very old soul indeed and he didn't like thinking about his ancient times back in Egypt. Despite the fact that he enjoyed taking Justine on trips to Egypt, he didn't like talking about his life back in Egypt.

--

It was another one of their mornings together, Justine was to wake up specifically at 9:00 in the morning so that she could be dressed and ready for a very good breakfast (whatever she wanted actually) and then it was the rest of Seth's job to keep the child entertained while her sisters were doing their own jobs in the castle. Going to their governesses to take lessons in education and learn formalities.

Justine was happily munching on her usual breakfast of something sweet for her in the morning: French toast with strawberries, butter, and lots of hot syrup.

Seth was very busy ordering servants that came in and out of the room which things needed to be done and in what way. Justine of course had grown to like Seth over the course of his job taking care of her. What a wonderful babysitter he was! He did everything for her, he took her out to play, he brought her new toys, and sometimes on occasion he'd cook her meals if he didn't deem what she was going to eat to be edible. Such joy of what a good day this would be, Justine was not focused on the objects moving in and out of her room.

Then she heard something she hadn't heard before, at least for as long as Seth had been taking care of her for the past year or so.

Her cup of juice in her hand was suddenly snatched up in midair and Seth's teeth were sharpened, as he elicited a very vocal growl from the back of his throat.

Justine's eyes widened at her caretaker and she stared at the cup in his hand, and then proceeded to watch him sniff the contents cautiously. He didn't give her cup back for several moments before he finally concluded what he had suspected. The servant that had filled her juice cup suddenly stopped in his tracks at Seth's next words.

_'Milo…step forward.'_ Seth's tone was murderous.

There was a male servant with a pitcher in his hand, shaking all over. _'Sir?'_

Seth's response was throwing the cup in the servant's face. Whatever was in it, the servant stammered over his excuse. Seth had suddenly picked Justine up from where she was sitting and held her very protectively in her arms.

_'My Lady, this is what we call an assassin. In my country, there are many of them that go against the kings and queens of the land. This man is no exception and shall be treated like most assassins are in Egypt.'_

Justine still wasn't aware of what was going on and she blinked at Seth in confusion.

_'What are you talking about? What'd he do? He always brings me my juice in the mornings.'_

Seth's brow cocked and he turned his head to the servant and released yet another growl. Everyone else in the room seemed to now be aware of what was going on.

_'Milord Seth, shall I send for the guards?'_

Seth set Justine down and looked down at her. '_This is a bad man, Justine. He tried to kill you.'_ He cracked his knuckles and pushed the child behind him. _'You may send for the guards, but I do not think they will find him in completely perfect condition when they come to get him.'_

The servant bit his lip and he gave Justine a dirty look._ 'Filthy brat! I could have gotten rid of you once and for all, come here so I can strangle you instead!'_ The juice jug was dropped and the man moved forward to grab at her.

'Sethy! The little girl yelped and Seth responded naturally to her fear. He lunged forward and caught the foolish brute by the neck and slammed him into the floor, rolling over so that he was sitting on the man. He lowered his face down close to the assassin's ear and hissed into it._ 'If I were allowed to do so, I would kill her for you. Her mother would not be so forgive of me if I did. You will do well to remember, you cross My Lady, and I will not hesitate to protect her.'_

There was commotion outside of the room, and several well-armored Cardigan Deals (the soldiers) were coming in to retrieve the man on the floor beneath Seth's weight.

They pulled him to his feet, shackled him, and led him off for charges of treason.

Seth stood to his feet, and dusted himself off. All the rest of the servants could do was stare, until Seth pointed towards the door._ 'ALL OF YOU OUT NOW!' _He snarled.

The rest of the servants bowed politely and left just as quickly as they had came to do their jobs for the child.

His breath was heavy and he looked deeply disturbed as Justine stood there and tried to evaluate the scene in her little head before Seth scooped her up in his arms. '_My Lady, were you harmed? You didn't drink that did you?'_

Justine's feet were lifted off the ground before she could comment on the scene and she was snuggled in Seth's arms.

_'Sethy…what just happened?'_

--

He was brought out of his memories as Justine rolled over to face him, her blue eyes fluttered open and she gazed at him, her lips forming into a pout. "Sethy, did you stay up all night looking after me?"

Seth shrugged. "I've been awake for the past two hours. Remember? I am an early riser."

"Oh." Her pout faded and she frowned. "Right. What's on the schedule for this morning?"

"As usual, your breakfast order first, bath, what you shall wear, and…I believe today is the day I take you shoe shopping." Seth said, trying to recall exactly what today was.

The Magic Words. Justine's mouth fell open into a silent squeal.

"OH! OH! Shoe shopping!" She exclaimed, sitting up immediately. She grabbed him up by the shoulders and squealed in excitement. "I can't wait! I can't wait! I want so many shoes today!" She was hugging his head into her chest and Seth couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed by this feat.

"You want a lot of things today, don't you?" He asked her, in good humor.

"Oh, not much. Just a few things." She said, kissing him on the nose.

"…I'll send for your breakfast." He moved to get off her bed before he was suddenly brought back down with her sitting on his legs.

"Oh no, no. Not yet." She cooed. "What's my favorite game to play in the morning, Sethy?"

"Hide and seek?" He said, somewhat confused. "My Lady, you are far too old for this game now. Wouldn't you rather have breakfast first?"

"You're it, and if you win, I'll give you a present." She whispered in his ear sultrily.

"Oh, well if that's the case I'd love to know what I am winning. How do you play this game again?" He asked.

Justine poked him in the nose with her finger and rolled off him and onto the floor. "You won't know unless you catch me!" That said, Justine had run out of the room giggling and laughing down the hallways.

Seth, now alone in the room, rubbed his temples and chuckled wearily.

"Oh. This version. I remember now."

--

Authoress Note: Aha! First long chapter. Hatter likes very much. So how did you all like Seth's reminiscing of Justine as a child? Makes you wonder what he really feels for her. Muahah. Oh and I wonder where Madame Hatter has dragged poor Chevalier off to. Hm, you'll find out in the next installment of 9 Lives to Live.

Read and Review!


	12. Diana

Authoress Note: I'm so sorry for putting the story off for so long guys. School started back up and I'm a freshman in college now. I apologize sincerely for the long wait and the unexplained AWOL, so hopefully this chapter will make up for it. Please find it in your hearts to forgive me because I didn't forget about the story. I recently have been going through a bit of writer's block lately and been trying to get rid of it. Luckily I think it's clearing up. I also recently had a medical emergency with one of my dogs (he's okay now) and I take two honors courses at my community college.

But enough about the story of my life. How are all of my reviewers out there? I noticed while I was gone some more reviews came in and A LOT of people favorite or subscribed to the updates on the story! Thanks to you all. Well, here's the long awaited chapter 12.

Reviewer responses will begin next chapter. I promise. Right now I don't have time to answer them all, but don't worry, I didn't forget about you guys. You're the reviewers! You make the story happen!

--

_Disclaimer 1__: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Caroll._

_However…I have my own character ownership too._

_Disclaimer 2__: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, Seth, The Heart of Darkness: Justine, Seth, the 'white heart': Tabitha all belong to me_.

--

Finding Justine had never been a chore for Seth. He actually had enjoyed her little games of hide-and-seek since she was a child. The fact that she ran around and hid was just enough of a challenge for him. He usually had no problem finding her and this time was no different. He paced around her room and searched her closet thoroughly (putting everything back the way it was lest she throw a tantrum) and them the washroom.

"Little one, I do realize that you love this game but don't you think you're a little too old to be playing this game?" Seth asked.

His ears twitched and he spun quickly to have the shower curtain thrust open in front of him. Justine's brows were knit together in annoyance. "OLD?"

"For your age, my lady." He said, with a sort smirk. "Hide-and-seek is for little girls."

"I AM a girl, silly." She pouted, and then realized from his grin he had found her. "Oh. Poo."

"Gotcha." He chuckled, grabbing her from around the waist with both arms and spun her around. "Haha."

"Sethy! Put me dowwwwwn. Nuuuuu!" She giggled before she snapped. "Oh put me down now!"

Seth, though reluctant, obliged and set her right back onto the floor. "As you wish, my lady. Hm, if I do recall you promised me a present did you not?"

"You cheated. Cheaters don't get presents." Justine huffed, crossing her arms childishly.

Seth gave a deep frown. No present from his lady? Very well. "You'll have to excuse me my lady, duties call to me soon."

As he turned his back to leave the washroom, she caught his wrist suddenly. "Sethy. You're not leaving me yet are you? I…I don't want you to work yet. You promised to take me shoe shopping."

"Ah, my lady. I cannot fulfill that promise right now. Later, if that is acceptable." He said, bowing to her apologetically.

Justine's face turned into a scowl and she brushed by him in annoyance. "No. It's not acceptable. I won't have it!" She kicked at the foot of her bed. "I won't have it! I won't have it! I won't HAVE IT!" She began yelling and stomping her feet.

"It's not fair!"

For a moment Seth gave a short growl and then stopped himself when he realized what he had just done. Had he…become irate with his lady's behavior? In such a manner?

"Hmmm…" He muttered. "Ah, very well. Since it puts my lady in such a foul mood." Seth said to her, turning towards her closet. "But we must dress you first." He threw the doors open. "And for that to be done you must be equipped with what you desire in your outfit."

Justine's scowl quickly disappeared and her tantrum stopped, her tone became sweet as she wrapped her arms around Seth's waist affectionately. "Oohhh. Sethy. You always treat me right. I can never thank you enough."

Seth glanced back at her and then his gaze returned to the closet as another memory came back once again.

--

"_It was an untimely death for the beloved queen."_

"_Truly. Her poor children must be devastated. The youngest especially. Princess Justine…I wonder if the child even knows that she has to be coroneted as the next Cardigan Heart queen?"_

The conversations were mostly dreary and with concerns for who the new queen would be. Seth didn't like any of it. For the most part Queen Idina's death had been shocking to him on the inside, but Seth was more concerned for Justine's welfare than of the late mother to the child.

He was holding Justine's hand firmly as the viewing was held for the queen and Justine's sisters were all there too. They were beside Justine as well while they stood by in silence and looked on as distant cousins and family members were all there in the great funeral parlor.

"_Mother wouldn't have wanted us to be sad."_

"_I can't stop crying…"_

"_We can't worry about mother now…we have to worry about each other. We have to take care of everyone else…."_

Justine said nothing while her sisters spoke between each other. Her face got a little red and her before she broke her hand away from Seth's and darted off away from the crowd of people.

"_My lady!" Seth yelled out to her._

"_Where's Justine going?" _

"_Hey! Don't run away Justine! It'll be okay…We're here-"_

"_Enough of this."_ Seth said to them. _"Your sister has been affected harder than you believe." _He ran after her as he watched the little girl dodge and move through the crowd of people in the parlor until she pushed a backdoor open and made her way outside to the gardens.

Her little feet pounded against the cobblestone walkway before she came to stop and Seth was just behind her.

"_My lady-"_

"_Nobody's sad mummy is gone!" She _yelled out. _"All everyone can talk about is how she's in a better place and not care! All my sisters can do is talked like…she's gone forever, and she is…" _Justine's lower lip quivered. "_All anyone cares about is if…who becomes queen next."_

Seth listened to the soft cries of the small child and he knelt down next to her. _"You know, my lady," _He began. _"Back in Egypt. We do not truly believe that when people die they are gone forever."_

"_They can't be…"_ Justine sniffled. "_Mummy can't be. She has to come back and rule the land!"_ She began stomping her little feet._ "It's not fair! Nothing's fair!"_

Seth gave a sad frown and he put his arm around Justine and pulled her to him. _"Come with me, I'll tell you a tale."_ He picked her up into his arms and carried the child on his shoulders.

They walked through the garden for a while as he began his story. _"When kings and queens die back in Egypt-"_

"_Mummy said that's where you're from." Justine cut him off._

"_Yes. I am from there. May I go on?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Back in Egypt, when kings and queens die, we hold grand parties for them even after they have gone."_ He explained. _"However, before the festivities begin we must prepare the body for its journey to the afterlife."_

"_Afterlife?"_ Justine said, confused. _"I'm a little girl…I don't know that stuff…"_

"_In your culture: heaven."_ Seth clarified.

"_Preparing them spiritually for a journey they must make without the help of their friends and family in the realm of the living._ _They have to cross a river and have their souls judged by a special god in order to become gods themselves."_

"_Mummy's going to become a god?"_ Justine said, intrigued now. _"I want to be one now…"_ She pouted.

"_Well little one…they are not really 'gods' but they become very much associated with the gods in the afterlife. They must pass three tests in order to get to the afterlife. If they are good of heart and intention they will pass. If they are greedy, evil, and do nothing but cause suffering to all around them they shall fail and be sent to be eaten by the gatekeeper of hell."_ He explained to her.

Seth took her from his shoulders and placed her back down on the ground. _"My lady, Justine, your mother will most certainly pass the tests."_ He assured her.

"_And she'll have tea parties with the gods?"_ She asked.

"_Yes. She will."_ Seth explained. _"For now, the best thing that you can do is…take care of yourself and let your sisters handle your mother's death in their own way. For now…we'll have our own party for her."_

Justine held her arms out to Seth and hugged him tightly. _"Sethy, mummy's not here anymore to take care of me. You have to take care of me always and promise not to go to pass any silly old tests. You have to come back to me. I order it."_

"_Always, my lady." _He said putting his arms around her in a gentle embrace.

--

"Sethy…? Sethy! Sethy, are you listening to me?" Justine called to him. "Sethy!"

"Hm?" Seth snapped out of his memories and glanced back at her. "Sorry, what was it my lady?"

"You weren't even listening to me…" She pouted. "What's wrong with you?" Justine huffed.

"I'm not sure." He answered her. "Perhaps I am merely reliving some old memories." He shrugged. "But alas, they are nothing of great importance."

"Oh good, for a moment there I thought you weren't listening to me. Silly thing."

"I may not have gotten everything you said to me, my lady. You wouldn't mind going over your needs for your outfit again would you?"

"UGHHH!"

"I guess you…would." He chuckled softly. "Am I still getting that present of mine or not?"

Justine had balled her hands into fists and she clenched them in annoyance. "Why should I give you any presents Sethy? You weren't listening to me, you were off in some la-la-world, and you obviously cheated at our game of hide and seek. So no, you will not get a present." This was becoming just a tad bit pressing on his patience with her tone of voice and the way she chided him.

He spun suddenly and caught her wrist and yanked her close, arms around her waist and his mouth set into a thin line. "Sethy! Ooh! You're not fair! Let me go! Release me!"

"Only if I may have my present." He whispered softly. "Please, Your Majesty, I did promise to take you shoe shopping and I do have to do everything for you today since none seem to satisfy your endeavors."

She was quite surprised by his suddenly and bold reaction, no matter how she struggle, Seth would not release his grip and she gradually gave up her fight. He HAD said, 'Your Majesty' and he only said that when he was in public with her or in important meetings. She had only heard him use 'your majesty' when he was trying to persuade her with something. "Ohhh…Very well. You win." She muttered.

"Ah, so I do get my present then?" Seth said with a grin.

She turned and kissed him on the cheek. "There, your present. May I go now?"

Oh. Such a poor present from her, but it was from his lady and Seth was happy with it either way. He let her go and sighed. "Yes, you may. I will still need your outfit explanations, my lady."

--

Chevalier's back hit the wall of the basement downstairs as Harlequin unleashed him and pressed him up against it. "You know Madame; I do really begin to enjoy these games of you getting frustrated with me." He grinned devilishly.

"Enough of this banter, servant." She said to him coldly. "I specifically ordered you to settle yourself which you refused to do so. Do not forget that it was _I_ that released you from that wretched place. It was _I_ that saved you. Never forget that you are indebted to me from that event."

Harlequin turned only to have Chevalier grab her by her wrist and suddenly pin her to the floor. "Ugh!"

"Oh I remember very well Madame…" He hissed in her ear. "I remember so…very…well." Chevalier flicked his tongue out. "But despite this fact, there is something contrary to your 'debt'. I'm a cat. Cats aren't like dogs." He explained to her. "You can't force us to learn tricks and eat treats we don't like to eat." He cooed and let his tail swished behind him. "I'm a beast by nature and it doesn't suit me to follow orders."

"All except mine…" Harlequin corrected him.

Chevalier released her and turned his back to the Hatter woman. "Don't try my patience, Madame Harlequin."

She stood to her feet, "Just remember, you are indebted to me for the rest of your life Chevalier, you can no more run away from me than you can run away from yourself."

His pupils widened in the dim light of the basement and he purred at her ear from behind. "Do I still get my tuna, Madame?"

A small can was produced from her pocket and she tossed it to the floor. "Finish it all."

Chevalier dove for the can excitedly. "Nyeowr!" He grasped the round tin object with anticipation before he realized that he would have to open it himself.

"This is a joke, right Madame?"

"We'll see…" Harlequin smirked as she closed the basement door on him.

"DAMN YOUUUUU!"

As she leaned against the basement door, Harlequin couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.

"That's what naughty kitties get when they're bad."

--

Tabitha was lost in her thoughts, trying to contemplate what had just happened. "Excuse me…Miss Henrietta?"

Henrietta's ears twitched as she was watering some mums and poppies around in Harlequin's Garden. "Hm? Oh, yeah?" She answered. "What's up?"

"I was just curious, where did Madame Harlequin take Chevalier exactly?" Tabitha cocked her head to the side in curiosity. "She's…she's not going to hurt him is she?"

"Hurt HIM? Oh please." Henrietta laughed. "Chevalier's more than likely to get a couple smacks from her but I don't think she could ever bring herself to hurt him. I mean, he IS indebted to her after all. She saved him."

"Saved him? From where? A fire? Something dangerous?" Tabitha's elbows were on the table, when suddenly Reginald hurried to her side.

"Waaah! No, no, no, no. M-Miss. Miss. Please, please. Ah. No elbows on the table cloth. Madame's not…fond of that habit. Chevalier does it all the time and…and Halviere to."

Henrietta's tail twitched and her eyes narrowed at Reginald. "Why you talkin' about Halviere, Reginald?" She asked him. "You seen him lately?"

"No…but, I just thought-"

"DON'T talk about Halviere.' Henrietta sneered, pointing her index finger at Reginald threateningly. "I don't like talking about my brother and I don't like anyone else to talk about him. Got it?"

Reginald gave a very affirmative twitch-nod of his head before Delmont stood to his feet. "Well, Reginald, I do believe that I should be heading back to our flat. But alas, I may need some help getting there."

Now when one looked closely at Delmont it was somewhat hard to tell what kind of shape his sight was in as he would doze off sometimes in public and none would be able to tell. In a more awake state-

"Wait. Help? Getting home, but…your home is close by here isn't it? Don't you know the way?" Tabitha asked.

"Ah, I do, however I cannot walk there on my own. Alas…" He turned to face her with his eyes fully opened.

Tabitha's mouth opened slightly in concern at what she saw. Delmont's eyes were very opaque and somewhat a very milky shade of blue. Delmont Desmond Dormouse was completely blind.

"Oh. Oh! Oh, I-I'm so sorry I-I didn't know, please if I may-"She stammered apologetically.

Delmont only smiled at her. "Oh, that's all right. I'm actually used to it. Been blind my whole life. I mean, I CAN walk home on my own, but I think it's best to have another set of eyes with me just as a precaution. Reginald and I are roommates."

"You mean 'Steven'." Henrietta snickered.

"Etta! That's a horrible thing to talk about. That was a one-time thing only." Reginald assured, "I was drunk on brandy-wine which _someone_ had slipped into my punch!" He glared at his cousin and Henrietta made faces at him.

"You needed to get a little liquor in you that night. So I didn't know you'd get wasted on it." Henrietta held her arms out defensively. "Seriously, you need to try and be a little more open-minded Reginald. Where'd your back-bone go anyways? Earlier you put Chevalier off like he was nothing and now you're 'Captain Wet-My-Pants' again."

Reginald frowned and turned, ignoring Henrietta as he put a hand on Delmont's shoulder. "You know Henrietta; this may not be a good time. Why don't you and Reginald sort this out later." Delmont suggested wisely.

"Yeah…later." Henrietta muttered. "Sure."

Delmont gave her a grateful nod and waved in Tabitha's direction. "We'll meet up later, Reginald's taking me home. I actually have an appointment to keep."

At the word 'appointment' Reginald's ears pointed skyward and he nearly freaked out but restrained himself. "A-appointment?" He asked him.

"Ah yes, I chose not to inform you of this because it is not your appointment to deal with Reginald. I didn't think it wise to upset you due to it being a personal matter of my own. I will have to discuss this with you later though when we get back to the flat."

Reginald's ears twitched. "Uh…discuss?"

"It's of very important matters." Delmont answered. "Now, if you don't mind Reggie, old boy. I'd really like to get back home."

"Right…See you later Etta." Reginald waved goodbye to Henrietta and she in turn gave a curt wave back to him.

"Later."

Reginald put his hand on Delmont's shoulder and led him away down the cobblestone pathway out of the garden.

Tabitha was now alone with Henrietta. "I had no idea your friend was blind, you know just…"

"Ah, shut it." Henrietta waved a hand at her casually. "Don't worry about it. Del's so used to it by now that he doesn't really care anymore."

"Oh. Um…if you don't mind me asking are you and Reginald half-siblings?" Tabitha asked curiously.

Henrietta's ears perked atop her head and she began laughing out loud suddenly. "Aha. Aha! Aha! Ahahahahaha! Ahaha! Us? Brother and sister? Hell no!" She had to stifle her outburst somewhat and when she had subdued her laughter Henrietta took a deep breath.

"We're actually cousins."

"Of course you are," Came Harlequin's voice with a chuckle."Rabbits and Hares of the same bloodlines in a sense." The Hatter woman strolled towards them casually.

"Where's Chevalier?" Tabitha asked with concern.

"He's…incapacitated with food at the moment. He won't be bothering us for a while. Now, I'm sure you're quite famished Miss Tabitha and if you wouldn't mind we'll be having supper soon. Would you care to join us?" Harlequin offered.

"Join?" Tabitha said. "Oh, right. Haha. I don't have anywhere to go, it's not like I can actually leave this place. I suppose I have no choice. What are you cooking for supper?"

"Carrot stew and Chicken pot pie." Henrietta answered.

"Correct. Now, if you'll follow me inside we can set up." Harlequin informed, turning on her heel to lead Tabitha inside.

"_YOU'RE A MAD WOMAN HARLEQUIN HELENA HATTER!"_

"Was that Chevalier?"

"As a precaution: Do _not_ open the basement door."

--

Delmont fumbled with his keys for several moments before he found them and struggled with the lock a bit more before he unlocked the door to their little abode and stepped inside. Reginald turned the lights on and he heard an agitated squeak from their kitchen.

"Aah! Del! There's someone here!"

"I know…" Delmont sighed, handing Reginald his small set of keys before he guided himself towards the kitchen where a small young lady sat in Delmont's usual seat, staring ahead at the pair as they entered. There was some unintelligible babble from the girl before she stood up to greet them both.

"Diana." Delmont said with a small smile, as she took his hands in her own and began making several hand motions in his palms.

"Oh. Del, I didn't know you're sister was here to visit." Reginald said in surprise.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Delmont turned to face Reginald with a small frown.

"Eh?"

Diana Dior Dormouse looked up at Reginald in silence and gave him a small wave.

"Oh. M-Miss. We haven't been introduced. I'm Reginald. Reginald Rabbit." He held his hand out for her to shake.

Diana was a slight few inches taller than her elder sibling, but was still the baby of the family. She was thin, pale, and had dark olive colored eyes that expressed many different emotions that her voice could not. She was dressed in what looked like a hand-me-down dress and her hair was pulled up into a pair of buns on the top of her head. She merely stared at Reginald as though she hadn't understood him at all.

"Ah…Del-"

"I'm sorry Reginald, but Diana didn't understand a word you just said." Delmont apologized sadly.

"Oh…I-I'm sorry. Did I insult her?" Reginald asked in concern.

"I don't think did, she didn't hear you after all." Delmont explained.

"You mean-"

"Diana is deaf."

--

**Authoress Note**: All right guys! There you have it for the end of Chapter 12. We've just introduced another character into the fray. Diana Dormouse. Surprised? I bet you were. A blind brother and a deaf sister. How's that for a twist? Oh, also if you haven't noticed Seth seems to be holding back some strange desire for his Lady, don't you think?

Well, hope you guys enjoyed. Read and Review.


	13. I can has tuna?

**Authoress Note**: Hey! Everyone didn't notice I was gone? Wow. Lol. Well, you guys did obviously but it's okay. I've returned and now I shall answer reviews.

Line up ye law breakers of Topsy Turvy.

_James Birdsong_: You! You…must say more in your reviews. As charmingly short as they are, I like hearing more from you because you've been with the story since the beginning. (pokes at you) Say more. Do more. We're all a reviewing family here. It's okay. We don't bite, right everybody? Haha, just kidding. Thought I'd poke some fun with you especially just because I can.

_Shoue_: Every time I see your username I think of Henrietta and Justine and how they could easily read between the lines and say: Ooh! Shoes! Lol Sorry, had to throw that out there. Great to see you again, sorry I haven't updated in a while. Actually, most of the characters (except Chevalier) have siblings. So you'll be seeing them a little more than in the beginning of the story. Diana Dormouse, Halviere Hare, Hexavier Hatter, and well I won't tell you who the other sibling is for Reginald. Don't worry...I has many plans.

But I actually do have a plan for the Caterpillar Character but I won't tell you his name and sadl he won't be Indian, but he will be smoking a pipe if that helps any. He has a very sordid past with one of the characters which I refuse to hint at anything. This is all I shall tell you.

Stop tempting me to give out stuff! Oohhh! (gets all frustrated like Justine)

Actually, Seth does everything for Justine because he wants to, not simply because he has to. But you are very right he needs...all of those things. A little TLC would be lovely. :3 Don't worry, Seth has some very intricate plans.

Also, just so you know Seth is actually a play on the Egyptian God: Set. But he's not a God. THAT IS ALL I SHALL TELL YOU! STOP. BRAINWASHING. MEEEEE. Nyeeeeh.

--

_Disclaimer 1__: I do not own the rights to Alice in Wonderland. It is purely copyright of Lewis Carol. The original characters: the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The Dormouse, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and of course an Alice are all owned by Lewis Caroll._

_However…I have my own character ownership too._

_Disclaimer 2__: This story I wrote is my original idea, please do not steal it. The original characters in this fan fiction: Harlequin Hatter, Henrietta Hare, Chevalier Cat, Delmont Dormouse, Reginald Rabbit, Seth, The Heart of Darkness: Justine, Seth, the 'white heart': Tabitha all belong to me_.

--

'_Diana, this is my good friend and roommate.'_ Delmont signed to her.

She turned her sights on Reginald and the poor rabbit man gave a small smile and a cheerful wave to her. "Hello." He said to her.

"Remember Reginald, she can't hear. Speak slowly. Diana has limited lip reading ability, so she can probably understand if you speak slowly." Delmont explained.

"I don't want to seem disrespectful, Del." Reginald said, obviously trying to be sensitive to the fact his sister had such a disability to some extent. "You're so close with her it seems and I don't want to intrude."

"Oh, don't be silly old boy. Diana loves making friends." _'Don't you? You like to make friends right?' _The young lady flattened out Delmont's palms and began using her hand motions against his hands to convey her answers to him.

'_Of course I do. Why is your friend so shy?'_ She asked him.

'_Oh, Reginald's always been that way…don't ever meet his mother. She's a very unpleasant woman.' _"I'm telling her to never meet your mother. That's a good idea, right?" He chuckled at Reginald.

"I'm glad your family isn't so large Del." Reginald murmured. "I'm quite jealous." He said, crossing his arms with a pout.

Diana gazed at Reginald and pursed her lips and laughed at his facial expressions. _'Why doesn't he know sign language, Del? His facial expressions have great potential.'_

'_Like I said Diana, don't ever meet his mother. She's a very…high strung woman.'_ The siblings both snickered and Reginald frowned.

"I feel a little left out you know." He explained, stepping closer.

"Well, don't be a stranger, come here." Delmont gestured to him. "Reginald, Diana. Diana, Reginald." He turned to Diana and began spelling out Reginald's name: _'R-E-G-I-N-A-L-D.'_

'_Reginald? It suits him. Haha. He seems rather skittish. Is that normal for most people?' _Diana asked.

"When is anything normal? Haha. She thinks you're skittish." Delmont explained.

"She's very intelligent. How do you communicate so well with her?" Reginald asked, curiously. "I wish I could communicate with my family as well as you do." He sighed.

'_Reginald's nature is partially his mother's fault. Don't tell him I told you that, okay?'_

'_Oh, of course not.' _Diana gave him a surprised look. _'Poor guy, it must be hard. Is his family big? How many siblings does he have?'_

"Sixteen siblings, right?" Delmont asked.

"You know the answer to that…" Reginald chided him gently. "Don't play dumb."

Delmont smirked. "I try." _'16, Reginald is one of the older children. Regrettably his mother's favorite.'_

Diana giggled. _'What a large family! He's very sweet natured isn't he? First impressions are always lasting ones. I like him, he's very…unique.'_ She explained.

'He's quite a character?' Delmont grinned.

"The communication barrier's all confusing to me. It makes me wonder why mother didn't allow me to learn a very effective means of such a language." Reginald sighed.

"Ah, no hard feelings Delmont. I'm sure Diana and I would be happy to teach you." Delmont explained.

"I would like that, but I'll have to find time between that and my filing duties. Madame must have all of her business documents sorted out. You know how I am about that." Reginald said.

'_He would love to learn.'_ Delmont grinned.

--

"Isn't it a lovely day out Sethy?" Justine cooed in admiration of the weather. "It was predicted that it would be chilly and unpleasant but it's not. I guess I can't control everything in this world." Justine said, lowering her pair of sun-spectacles to gaze up at Seth. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"I do my lady, but the probability of you ever being able to control the weather is…quite impossible I must say." He explained.

"Oh I know…and it's a shame too. Could you hold my parasol a bit more to the left please? The sun will burn my delicate skin if I'm not well shaded. Seth obliged and Justine was pleased by the results. "Heehee. Thank you Sethy."

"Well, it is my duty of course." Seth told her. "The Shoe shop is just up ahead. Did you wish to go in?"

"Shopping? Hm…Nooo." She said. "I don't feel like it, not right now." She said with more interest in a small café just up ahead. "Hm. I want some ice cream Sethy." She linked her arm with his and rested her head against his upper bicep. "Mm. Please?"

"Well that depends, do you want them to make it did you want me to do it for you?" He hadn't meant for his tone to come out the way it did but Justine's brow rose in a perplexed manner and she frowned at him.

"I believe I misheard you."

"Oh, you did. But I was asking you an actual question, my lady."

"Well of course I want you to make it. I want you to go behind the counter of that café and make everything for me. Because I know you always do it right." Justine said smiling at him. "You're always so good to me and you make everything perfect."

'_I could make your life completely perfect if I was in it in more ways than just one.'_ He thought. "You always say that."

"You're so good to me…" She cooed. "You're always so good to me Sethy, and I know you'll never let me down." She giggled.

"Never." He said. "Now…that ice cream, yes?"

"Strawberry ice cream, with raspberry sauce, whipped cream, and lots and lots of strawberries." Justine squealed.

"Of course, my lady." Seth said.

--

How could she do that to him? Chevalier stared at the can in disdain and pounded his fist against it until he couldn't stand this grievous process of trying to open the can of tuna.

Chevalier tossed the can away from him in aggravation. "AGH! I hate you Harlequin! You're a mad and evil woman! Meowrrrr! REOWRRR!" He cried, jumping to his feet to dash up the basement steps and pound on the door.

"Open this door! I demand an opened can of cat food! Meowrrrrrrr! Reowrrrrrr! Owrrrr!"

--

Henrietta and Harlequin had begun cleaning up some of the items from the tea party outside. Tabitha was allowed to help wash and dry dishes. It was standard protocol in Harlequin's household to always clean up after a mess, a meeting, a party, or some kind of event held during any time of the day.

Tabitha felt bad because she could hear Chevalier banging on the basement door.

"MEOWRRRR! ROWRRR!!"

"Madame, don't you think we should let Chevalier out? I'm sure he realizes he's been bad enough. Maybe he can come out and help us clean up."

"Clean up? That's the last thing on Chevalier's mind." Henrietta laughed at the notion. "Yeah. Chevalier sticking his hands in the water to wash dishes. I can see it now. He jumps three feet into the air and crawls along the ceiling like the Itsy-Bitsy Spider." Henrietta handed another dish to her.

"You're very um…high strung aren't you, Miss Etta?"

Henrietta sighed. "I guess. I mean if you perceive me that way, it can't be frickin' helped right?" She glanced at Tabitha. "Why does it matter?"

"I'm just concerned because I'm in a strange world I've never been to and I've noticed so many things about everyone. Mr. Dormouse is blind, Mr. Rabbit the poor dear is so skittish, and Madame seems…"

"Indifferent is the word you're looking for." Harlequin added in.

"Oh…I-I'm sorry Madame. I didn't mean to offend you." Tabitha apologized as Harlequin came over to the pair at the sink.

"I've been indifferent since I was a child, Miss Tabitha. I assure you that I am not offended by what is the truth." Harlequin explained, taking dried dishes and putting them away.

"So…you think we may let Chevalier out of the basement?" Tabitha asked.

"Pfft." Henrietta scoffed. "No. I mean, you saw how he acted on the table. He knocked a bunch of shit over and then he started squealing, yowling, and screaming." The rabbit-eared woman put her hands on her hips. "Why do you think I looked like I wanted to flip the table over and kill him?"

Tabitha rethought about the tea party and Chevalier and Henrietta's hostility towards each other.

"You are right…"

"I will let him out…on the condition, Miss Tabitha that you refuse to open the can of tuna I gave to him downstairs. There is no doubt in my mind that he will come up here with it and ask for it to be opened." Harlequin stepped over towards the basement door where Chevalier scratched at it and yowled.

The yowling wasn't a problem but when Harlequin heard scratching her brow twitched and she suddenly was shouting. "DO NOT SCRATCH AT MY GOOD WOOD!"

Chevalier's scratching stopped immediately and he mewed cutely. "Can I come out to pway now? I'm sowwy for what I did."

She unlocked the door and Chevalier sat on the top step on all fours with a grin on his face. "Hi." He purred.

Harlequin tapped her Mary-Jane gangster shoes against the floor of her kitchen and Chevalier scrunched up and crawled out from the basement door. Low and behold, the tuna can was in his hands. "You forgot to open my can." He grinned at her, then Tabitha, and then Henrietta. "So…may I have it open now…Madame?" He cooed.

"I pondered on that issue before I let you back up here. I all ready have an answer for you." Harlequin grinned mischievously. "No. You may not, because you misbehaved."

Chevalier's once smiley demeanor changed and he slammed his fist into the wall next to him, leaving a decently well sized-hole where his clenched hand was. "You think you're so smart spiting me, Harlequin Hatter."

"I am _Madame_ to you when we are in public. CAT." Harlequin hissed through her teeth.

"Do you need me to stomp on him for you?" Henrietta cracked her knuckles and tapped her heel against the floor in annoyance.

"Oh please, he only wants the can open. Couldn't we just oblige him? Just this once?" Tabitha asked.

"You give him a fish; he'll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish he'll never go hungry again, but help him open a can of fish…Well, he's just asking for a handout." Harlequin said, giving Chevalier a serious look.

"Do as you wish, Miss Tabitha. But do not say I told you so when I mentioned before. Chevalier looks for handouts whenever he can get them." Harlequin turned back to her dishes and tossed Tabitha a can opener.

Tabitha missed catching it, but Chevalier's tail snagged the object right away. As he handed it to her, Tabitha took the can from him. "You know, if you hadn't acted that way earlier I think Madame would have opened the can for you."

His ears flattened against his head and Chevalier growled. "If Harlequin opened my cans for me all the time that would make me a very _good_ kitty, of which I am not." He grinned.

Tabitha cut into the metal of the top and handed it to him. "Here, now please don't make a fuss if it's the wrong kind of fish."

Chevalier gave her a look of disgust, he began using the can opener until he tore the half ajar can open and began feasting on the tuna within.

Henrietta looked clearly disgusted as Chevalier got tuna meat all over his face and he growled ravenously as he feasted.

"Clean that up when you finish…" Harlequin scolded him.

The cat man gave an animalistic hiss at her and Harlequin stomped her foot promptly and Chevalier sat upright immediately on all fours in a 'dog'-like position.

"That's an order. It wasn't a request."

He flicked his tongue out and glanced at Tabitha before licking his fingers and emitting a purr. "Isn't it rude to behave as such in front of a guest, Madame?"

"Miss Tabitha, I am not being rude to you am I?" Harlequin asked her.

"Oh no, no. Not at all. I just…well…I should really be back home and not here. This place it's so unfamiliar to me." Tabitha sighed; her dish in her hand was taken by Henrietta.

"Well what do you expect? It's Topsy Turvy."

"Topsy Turvy. Right…not Wonderland."

The three others in the room stiffed at the sound of that name.

"Don't." Harlequin hissed.

"Say." Henrietta growled.

"That." Chevalier spat.

Clearly, calling Topsy Turvy 'Wonderland' was absolutely taboo.

--

_'I truly enjoyed Sir Reginald's company today.'_ Diana signed in Delmont's hands as they sat there at the dining room table enjoying a snack together. She was smiling, very happy it seemed.

Reginald had gone on a run to meet with his father he said. If there was any family member he got along with better than anyone, it was his father. Rordan Walston Rabbit.

_'I am glad you were able to meet my flat mate, Diana. Reginald is a good friend.' _He had reached forward to grab his cup but instead grabbed the flower vase on the table.

_'Oh Delmont. We really should see if there's anything we can do about your sight. I'd like you to at least see shadows of things at least so you can distinguish them.' _Diana explained to him sadly.

_'Diana, being born blind hasn't hindered me in anyway. I don't see it as a disability. It is just another challenge I have to overcome in my existence. I'd rather be blind than see anyways. It just…perhaps the world is beautiful to me all ready without seeing it.' _Delmont tried to explain to her.

_'Just like I'm sure the world sounds much more beautiful to me than what it really must sound like.'_ Diana looked down at her plate of cucumber, mustard, and pickle sandwich with disdain.

_'You don't like the snack I fixed?' _Delmont asked, sensing her silence was that of an uncomfortable one. Being brother and sister, Delmont could deliberate the type of silences that Diana gave with her deafness. They had that sort of bond where he was more than glad to lend some comfort to his sister should she be ridicules for being simply deaf and she had been as a child, just as Delmont had been for his blindness.

_'Do you think Sir Reginald likes me…?' _Diana asked him, worried.

_'Haha. Oh. Is that what this is about? Diana, he's my best friend and if ever there was he's a better flat mate than any other out there. He tries to love everyone.'_

_'Even that dreadful Cat?'_

_'I suppose Chevalier needs love too. Who knows, Harlequin may have saved him in more ways than she believes.'_

_--_

"Is there any particular reason we have to be here today…together?" Halviere asked as he stood next to Hexavier in front of a horrendously pink looking house.

"Isn't your cousin worse to be around than I?" Hexavier asked him, glancing to the side at the elder Hare sibling.

"Sometimes…she has a tendency to be just like her mother. Father never liked her and mother was loathe to speak to her." Halviere adjusted his spectacles and knocked on the door.

"Isn't Diana supposed to be here today?" Halviere asked the Hatter next to him.

"She has taken an off day to spend with her elder brother. She and Delmont are rather close." Hexavier knocked a second time when there was no answer and then…

"No, no, no, no, noooooo." An annoyed, and piping, female voice answered from behind the door. "Two consecutive knocks by the same person. You can't BOTH knock at the same time."

"Damn you! Rachel have you been standing behind this door the whole time listening to our conversation?" Halviere snarled.

"Easy, killer. She has to open it at some point." Hexavier tried to calm him.

"Don't tell me what to do you Hatter hellspawn…" Halviere scowled.

"Merely a suggestion, Mister Hare. Don't need any more tensions between your families."

"I'm waiting for my TWO, yes TWO, consecutive knoooooocks." The woman drawled out before Hexavier knocked twice firmly.

"Enter." The door unlocked and they were let in.

As Hexavier and Halviere were shown in, Halviere looked around in distaste. "Must you color your house exactly like your mother, Rachel. It clashes with the exterior design of the house. How should I know? Perhaps because I assisted in building it…"

She was garbed in a standard Victorian tea gown, which happened to be just as atrociously pink as her house. A poised set of white rabbit ears atop her head, each donned with a small bow clip and her hair done up to symbolize her 'noblewoman' stature, as she called it. "You will do well to hold your tongue." She tapped her fan at Halviere in a snarky tone and seated herself at her tea table.

"Oh. Now where is that dreadful deaf girl? She can never be on time can she?" she asked Hexavier.

"My apologies, but Miss Diana has decided her brother is more important than company with you-"

"Wouldn't blame the sweet girl. You're a nasty bitch…" Halviere coughed to hide his remark but made it clear enough.

"I heard that!"

"It was meant to be heard…" Hexavier snickered.

"Well just for that you're not getting any of my freshly brewed coffee then. Hmf!" Rachel turned her back to them and strutted off to her fireplace to stoke the fire.

"Way to go asshole." Hexavier elbowed Halviere.

"You're the one that laughed at it!" Halviere hissed.

"Only because it's true..." Hexavier grumbled.

"I would have LIKED some coffee thanks very much!"

"There is NO arguing in my house!" Rachel strolled back over to them waving her fan in the faces of the two men.

"That's what your mother says every time but do arguments not happen? No."

Rachel became quiet and she puffed up in annoyance before sitting down at the tea table in the center of the room. "Well are you here to talk or are you here to stand around like buffoons?"

"We've been discussing...between the two of us...bout getting another 'Tea Party' together." Hexavier's brows rose cautiously.

Rachel grew silent and Halviere's ears twitched. "What say you, cousin?"

"How long has it been again?"

"Too long..."

"Indulge me..."

--

"Mmm!" Justine moaned in delight as she took the first bite of her sundae. "Oh Sethy, it's absolutely, wonderfully, fantastically-"

"Filled with many adjectives." He chuckled.

"Oh stop it…" she pouted, waving her spoon at him. "This sundae was made for me. I'm royalty of course." Justine said, looking over at Seth as he swirled his finger around in his mug of black coffee.

"Sethy…you didn't get yourself any ice cream." She said, a little disheartened by nothing being in front of him. "Get something."

"No thank you, My Lady. As appealing as sweets are my taste buds are only for the spices." He explained.

"But you put sugar in your coffee and you drink hot chocolate…"

"Correction, My Lady. I put chili powders in my hot chocolate and coffee." Seth informed.

"Oh…so it's…all of that in such things that were meant to be sweet?"

"It is of my culture, My Lady. I was born to eat and drink that way. "

"Don't you ever think your culture is silly though?" she asked a spoonful of ice cream dipped into her mouth and she savored every bite.

"You still think Egyptian culture is silly do you? I find your culture silly at times."

"Bu you have to abide by it. I'm the queen." She waved her spoon at him and lifted up another spoonful of ice cream. "Taste some Sethy. I assure you, you'll stop putting those spices in all you eat and drink." She cooed temptingly.

Seth chuckled, rolling his eyes. "I assure you. It won't change a thing."

He went to take the spoon from her and she pulled it away. "Ah! Ah! Ah…let me feed it to you." She said.

_'Why do so when you all ready tease me enough?'_ He thought, leaning forward and opening his mouth before swallowing the spoonful of ice cream and another rush of memories came back.

--

_'Where are we going, Sethy?' _Justine asked. It had been a few months after her mother's death and Justine's coronation ceremony but Seth's duty as ever was to dote upon her, whether she be queen or not.

_'I'm the queen now and I can order you to tell me.'_ Justine whined, as Seth carried her on his shoulders.

_'A place where only little queens dream of.'_ He explained to her. _'You are to have your taste of ice cream paradise. Any flavor of your choice, toppings, and condiments.'_

_'OOH! I can have a whole sundae?' _Justine squealed.

_'Yes. You can. You are queen. You may have whatever you wish while in my care. Only the best.' _Seth set her down and took her hand as they walked into the same parlor they were sitting at in present time.

_'Y-You're majesty!' _The shop owner stammered when Seth brought her in. He bowed quickly and Justine looked at him funny.

_'I thought only people in the castle were supposed to bow to me. They bow to me outside too? That's amazing! I want it done all the time! Again, again!' _she ordered the shop owner in excitement and he did as she commanded until Seth put an end to her fun.

_'We came here for your sundae, My Lady.' _He turned to the ice cream man and set Justine up on one of the tall stools at the counter.

_'What would you desire today, your majesty?'_ The man asked her.

_'Everything!' _Justine giggled.

_'Start small my lady, you have almost everything now that you are queen.'_ Seth sat next to her.

_'Fine. Fine. I want lots of strawberry ice cream, raspberry sauce with lots and lots of whipped cream covered in many strawberries.' _She squealed out her super sundae and the shop keeper wrote it all down.

As it was set in front of her, Justine's child-like eyes widened and she reached forward to try and grab the spoon but Seth got to it first.

_'Allow me, my lady.'_

And her first heavenly bite was just as memorable as it was to him as she sat there feeding him.

"Sethy? Sethyyyyy?" Justine called to him. "Are you in a daze from the ice cream or was it that good?"

He pulled the spoon from between his lips and licked them.

"You have no idea…"

--

Authoress Note: Well there you have it! Finally! Chapter 13 is completed and up. I hope the wait was worth it because I have been trying to get my writing muse back folks. Anyways, please read and review. Don't be shy to drop by a check up on me. Thanks!


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